Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings
by SugarCraziiness
Summary: All Samantha Brooks wanted to be was a normal girl. What will happen when she discovers the world of magic...and the role she plays in it? Based off a few different books and my own ideas.
1. My Weirdest Birthday Ever

Note: This _is _my first story here, so give me some credit. Sorry in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Please give me good reviews, or at least some pointers or tips! Hope you enjoy! Leanne

Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 1: My Weirdest Birthday Ever

I doubt you're someone like me. Sure, you may look like me, talk like me, or act like me, but I doubt you're exactly like me. But if you were, you would probably know why I hate change, and why I especially hate it now. Or at least in the beginning, when I first started out knowing I was…um…different. Yes, I know everyone's unique in their own way, but I'm talking about a different different.

You may wonder why. This is what I meant by "you're not like me", and if you still have no idea what I'm talking about, then yeah, you're DEFINITELY not anything like me. But this is why you're here. So you can find out exactly who I am.

For starters, my name is Samantha Brooks. Well, at least, it is under my foster parents. Let's just say I was the sort of kid who was given away by their parents as a baby and dropped off at someone's doorstep. And I mean literally. To me, it didn't matter much, since I never really knew my parents anyway, or why they abandoned me. I was just fine with my life the way it was, living with my foster parents and two best friends at River Wood Junior High. It seemed perfect. Until it got to the end of middle school.

So it's probably best to start my story there, on July 4th, or my fourteenth birthday. It all started at home, just as the fireworks were going up, and I'd blown out my birthday candles.

_Make a wish_. What wish? I had no wish to make, no worries, no doubts. I loved my life the way it was. I would have hated to change it. I loved my mom and dad, whether they were my real parents or not, and I loved my two best friends in the whole wide world, Hannah and, especially, Jared. So I might have been crushing on him for the past two years. Big deal. He was still one of my best friends.

But the candles were there, and everyone, waiting for me to blow them out and celebrate. I still had my wish to think over, though. Maybe I could just blow out the candles now, and save my wish for later. I'd just save it for sometime useful. As long as I didn't waste it, it'd be fine.

So I blew out the candles, squeezing my eyes shut, and storing away my unused wish. Everyone clapped and cheered, yelling, "Happy Birthday, Sam!" as more fireworks boomed outside. That was the best thing about being an Independence baby. It was like everyone was celebrating your birthday with you.

I watched Hannah shout excitedly about the fireworks. She grinned radiantly from ear to ear, as she usually did, filling up the room. Her shoulder-length light brown hair fell up and down as she jumped in the air, her brown eyes widening in anticipation. "C'mon, Sam, we're going to miss the fireworks!" She took me by my arm and led me outside to my front yard to watch the fireworks taking place at a nearby park.

Jared soon followed behind us, brushing gently against my shoulder as he stood by my side to look up at the bright patterns of brilliant red, white, and blue light. "It's a nice ending to your birthday, huh Sam?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah. Thanks for coming, Jared. I know you were supposed to be with your parents today. You really didn't have to, just for my birthday."

He waved it off, grinning. "It's nothing, really. I couldn't miss your birthday, Sam. Seriously. It's what friends do."

I blushed slightly. "Well…thanks, again."

Jared nodded. A silence passed between the three of us for a while, as we stared up at the sky, now bursting with red and yellow. I wasn't really watching the fireworks, though. You can probably guess who I was staring at.

Jared ran his hand through his tousled blonde hair and saw me watching him out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

If I was ever blushing, I was probably even more red-faced now. "Oh, um…nothing." I turned my head back again, ignoring his curious expression.

The silence continued again, with a few occasional oh's and ah's from Hannah, who was still occupied with watching the fireworks.

Just as I was about to head back inside, I saw something out of my peripheral vision. Down the block, there was this man—I couldn't make out his face much; it was too dark—just…glaring at me. The one thing I could see clearly, though, for some strange reason, were his eyes. They were…completely black. Maybe it was just the lighting, making it look that way. After a few more seconds, I just decided I was imagining things. Still, the guy gave me the chills, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise. So instead of just standing there, I turned to my friends, saying, "Oh…er, I don't want the cake to go to waste, and besides, I'm getting kind of tired of watching fireworks. Let's go inside."

I followed Hannah and Jared closely behind as they headed inside. But, inside the doorway, I had the feeling I was being watched. It was weird, but it was like I could feel someone's eyes on the back of my neck. I was getting goose bumps.

Hannah noticed me stop in the doorway. "Sam? Are you coming in?"

It took me a second to nod back. "Yeah. I'll be right in. I just, uh, dropped something in the grass. Wait up for me."

She raised an eyebrow, but made no argument. "Oh…ok. We'll be inside."

I nodded again as she walked back inside.

The feeling I was being watched only got stronger, if that was possible. Slowly, carefully, I turned my head to look back where the stranger was. Or had been. All that was left was an empty sidewalk.

I sighed in relief. It was alright now, the stranger had left, I reassured myself. He probably had better things to do. What was I thinking? Why would anyone find me the least bit interesting?

Don't get me wrong, I would've felt better, but…that feeling was still there. I must have been crazy, relying on just a feeling that the stranger was still around. Wanting to assure myself I was just overreacting, I quickly glanced up and down the street. No stranger. It was just me. I turned back to head in.

Wait. There, just about a hundred yards away, on my far left…was the stranger. He was just standing there, staring. At me.

I peered around me, checking again if anyone was there. Please, please, let me be wrong. But the only people outside were me and the man, the really, really creepy man. I finally convinced myself to pluck up some courage and face myself towards him, as he was closer to the door. Otherwise, I would've made a dash for it. Then, I blinked.

As I swiveled myself around, he almost seemed closer. Then again, how could he have stepped forward that much—closing the distance between us to about 50 yards—in the blink of an eye? He was really started to freak me out now. I tried to squeak something out, to call to him, but I couldn't say anything. I couldn't move. My feet were frozen, my voice stuck inside my throat.

Then, he smiled. Definitely NOT a friendly smile. It reminded me of those smiles you see in movies when the stalker has just found the innocent victim, and is about to brutally murder them. Except this guy's smile was about ten times creepier. My heart beat in my chest twice as fast as normal. _Move, you idiot_, I yelled in my head. No use. My feet were glued to the ground. I couldn't help it, I blinked again.

He was twenty yards away now. I tried to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. _Someone help me, please, _I pleaded. My eyes were starting to water. But I couldn't blink again. I just stared back at the man, back into his pure black eyes.

By now, he didn't even wait for me to blink. He stepped forward, now 10 yards away, though I don't know how he did that. It was almost like he floated closer.

I finally found my voice. "H-H-Hello? C-C-Can I g-get you s-something?" It came out hoarse, and I was sure he couldn't have heard it.

But he did. He smiled even more, and said in a barely audible, low hiss, "Hello, Samantha." My blood rushed in my ears, and every single one of my senses seemed to sharpen, picking up every movement he made.

My eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

"I've been trained to."

I gulped. "T-trained to? W-why?"

He cocked his head. "It's a more dignified way of killing you."

What? Did I hear that right? KILLING me? No. That wasn't right. Honestly, who would want to kill ME of all people? I was just having a really horrible nightmare, and any moment I would wake up screaming. I backed away from the man, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Don't believe me?" he chuckled darkly. "Ok, then. I'll kill you quickly and get this over with."

I screamed. I found my legs again, and tried to run the opposite way from him, as far away as I could. It sucks that I'd always gotten last in track, because I ended up tripping on a pebble and falling over. I crawled backwards, watching him close in. I can't justify just how terrified I was.

Despite the fact I could see my death approaching, I noticed something he was doing with his right hand. Though I could see he wasn't holding any match or lighter, a tiny flame was flickering from the tip of his fingers. I don't think of how he was doing this, or even that it wasn't humanly possible, because I was just wondering how my life would end. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die…

"Goodbye, Samantha," he purred. I closed my eyes. Let there be no pain, please…

And there wasn't. But immediately, I heard a scream, which I was sure was mine. Wait, no, two screams. One was considerably higher; probably mine. But the other was more like a roar or something, and I opened my eyes to see what it was. I could never know for sure, though because all I saw were the diminishing flames, and a pile of ash. My dad was standing a few feet from the pile of ashes, a distorted look of anger and rage clear across his face. My mother was also standing nearby, but her expression was…horrified, shocked. But where was the stranger? I found myself staring at the pile of ash. I was too traumatized to make it click together, though.

I could hear my father muttering a string of profanities under his breath, while my mother watched, still unmoving. After a moment, my father went over to pat on her shoulder soothingly, whispering something I couldn't hear. She nodded slowly, and let out a small choke, almost as if she was about to sob. He said something else. She just stood there, frozen.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, my father strode over by my side. I hadn't realized I was still there, on my back, perched on my elbows, facing the pile of ashes where the stranger had been standing, only about a foot away. My father brushed off some dust—some of the ash covered the side of my face—and sighed. "Samantha."

I couldn't say anything, or even look up. It took me a moment to realize I had started crying. The tears wet my face, mingling with the dirt and ash.

"Samantha," he repeated, more firmly this time. "Come with me."

Slowly, he helped me up, and I stood there, stiffly. As he tried to lead me back to the house, I tripped over and nearly fell, forcing him to sling one of my arms around his shoulders and help me the rest of the way. My mother joined us silently.

All I could hear was the short patter of our steps on the path, then the swing of the front door behind us, as my dad dragged me to the office. I didn't bother to answer Hannah's and Jared's questioning looks as I made my way, teary-eyed, through the living room. I could hear my mother quickly mutter something to them, and, after a moment's hesitation, they both nodded and went home, shooting glances at me as they left.

Moments later, I was sitting in my dad and mom's office, which was usually off-limits, with my head down, staring at the floor. My parents were still talking to each other under their breath, low enough for me not to hear. After a unanimous sigh, I heard my dad shuffle forward, and my mom perched herself on another chair nearby.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Finally, "Samantha."

Every inch of me was shaking as I lifted my head up to look at my father.

"Your mother and I have something vitally important we need to tell you," he spoke formally.

I nodded my head to show I was listening.

"We've tried to avoid the subject, to avoid telling you, for a very long time," he continued, and he rubbed the side of his arm absentmindedly. "We can't put this in a way to make it sound…reasonable…but, it must be done, considering the events that have just occurred."

I winced, trying not to remember.

"So, it's best just to tell it the way it is." My father paused, and looked to my mother to continue.

My mother breathed in deeply, closing her eyes. When she finally opened them, something shone in her eyes that I couldn't perceive past the watery gray. "Samantha…"

"Yes?" I asked anxiously. There was something about her tone, different than usual. She sounded scared…no, terrified.

"You're not…entirely human." She eyed me carefully, and my mouth gaped open incredulously.

…This day couldn't have gotten any worse.


	2. Explanations

**Author's Note: **This chapter explains exactly what she is, if you haven't guessed already. Anyhow, sorry in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes and yadayadayada. Please review!

**Disclaimer: **I'm sorry to say I do not own Harry Potter or whatever you think my story is based off of.

* * *

Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 2: Explanations

You could say I started to freak out...a little. Sure, I was expecting some sort of explanation for why I was nearly KILLED by some random guy who had been TRAINED to murder me. But seriously?! Not human?! What the heck were they talking about? I was just a normal, ordinary girl! I mean really, I had the acne and B+ grade average to prove it!

So why were they still sitting there warily, waiting for some sign of me to explode in hysterics? My jaw, which had been hanging on a loose hinge, immediately snapped back to its original place. I stared unblinkingly back at them, also waiting, but more for them to laugh and admit they were kidding around. I waited a moment…two…three…

But only until it started bothering me. "What are you talking about?"

My mother glanced quickly at my father, with the obvious look that said, "A little help here, please."

I waited patiently as my father cleared his throat and shifted his weight uneasily. "You see…Samantha…"

"You're a sorceress," my mother finished.

It took a minute to register. But even after it did, I still was confused. Sorceress? "Huh?"

"Also known as a witch, if you prefer," my father said.

Witch? Sorceress? What? Nothing made sense anymore. Either my parents were pulling a really sick prank on me, or this was a really strange dream. It was too surreal to actually be happening. "Aren't sorceresses supposed to do magic?"

My mom bit her lip, and my dad just nodded. "Yes."

It was official: my parents were going crazy, and any moment they'd be babbling about unicorns or vampires or something. "Oookay…" I rolled my eyes. "So you're saying I can, like, chant spells and brew potions and all that?"

Again, "Yes."

I suppressed a giggle. "Yeah, and next thing you know I'll be flying on a broom."

My dad sighed. Maybe he knew I was catching on to his little joke. "No, those are just stories made up by humans to entertain themselves."

I raised an eyebrow. They weren't actually taking this seriously, were they? "So you're saying there are wizards and warlocks and whatever?"

"They're the same thing as sorcerers."

Shaking my head embarrassingly, I stood up to leave. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go before you start talking about Santa Clause or what not."

"Samantha Lynn Brooks," my mother said sternly. Great. She was pulling the middle name thing on me.

I waved them off. "Mm-hmm."

This time, my father spoke. "Samantha!" Then suddenly, and I don't know how, the office door slammed in my face. No one had moved it. "Now, I'm sorry I had to do that, but you have to listen!"

"W-what? H-huh? How'd you—"

"Magic _is_ real, honey," my mother said gently.

I shook my head, backing up into the door. "Get away! You're crazy!" I slammed into the door, which reluctantly squeaked open, and dashed through the hallway.

"Samantha!" they called from behind me.

I just kept shaking my head, even as I threw myself out the back door. "No."

A warm summer breeze blew at my face, sifting through my hair. I closed my eyelids, trying to think past my confusion. I couldn't put together the pieces. Why were my parents acting so strangely? What had happened to the black-eyed stranger outside? It couldn't have had anything to do with the pile of ashes…could it?

I breathed calmly in the July heat. I could smell the grass, the flowers my mother had planted (attempted, anyways) in her new garden, the pool that hardly stirred, the dark evening sky overhead. It seemed like an ordinary summer night. But was it?

"Samantha." The pair of voices had finally caught up with me. "Please, just listen for once. Let us explain."

My eyes refused to open. Let them go away…I needed peace. Just now…

I heard someone step behind me, and a large hand rested on my shoulder. "I know it's hard to accept. But it's important you know now, about the magical community. And the academy you will be attending."

Academy. I opened my eyes immediately. "Academy?"

I could almost hear him nodding behind me. "Yes…the Harlington Academy…for Girls." I could hear his pause before "girls." Maybe he meant for sorceresses.

"But…I thought I was going to a _regular_ public school. With my friends," I said. I could hear the edgy tone to my voice. They couldn't just send me off to some magic school. I'd never let them. And besides, what would Hannah and Jared say? Wait…could I even tell them I was a you-know-what? Was it allowed? No. Sorceresses weren't real. They were myth. I didn't want to give in to this madness.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but there isn't any other way," my mother answered.

They had the right to say I couldn't choose for myself? I am what I choose to be! I refused to agree…whether it was real or not. I shook my head. "No."

My dad's hand dropped. I could tell he was bordering on angry. "You have no choice."

I began to tremble, despite my attempt at self-control. "What do you MEAN, I have NO choice? I can do what I want!" I didn't notice that the wind had begun to pick up.

"As much as we know you want to go to school with…normal people," my father muttered, "it's not our choice, either. You _have _to go to Harlington Academy. It's not just a matter of whether you are willing or not."

My fists clenched. The wind was whistling through my ears now. "I HAVE to go?! What about me?! What if I WON'T go?!"

My mom stepped forward, speaking urgently. "Samantha, honey, you don't understand! Control your temper!"

I ignored her warnings. "No! I understand PERFECTLY!" I wheeled around, facing them with a snarl. "YOU JUST DON'T WANT ME TO BE _NORMAL_!" I stomped my foot in frustration. "It's not your say, whether I go or not! It's also not your say whether I AM normal or not!"

"Samantha…" my mother trailed off, staring in pure shock at something behind me.

I didn't notice any of this. My anger had crossed the line by now. Fury was bubbling inside me, and my gut was starting to tighten. I wasn't sure if this was how someone usually acted when they were angry, but by now I knew this was different. Not normal. Something was roaring in my ears, uncontrollable, and for a moment I thought was just me. That didn't last long, though, as a wall of pool water had risen above my head, and the exact moment I saw it, the water splashed everywhere, soaking everything—except me.

I tried uselessly to read the clock upside down as I laid spread eagle across my bed, my head hanging off the side. Outside I could just hear the sounds of arguing and wet shoes squeaking across the floor. I had a pretty good feeling that the arguing was about me…or at least something related. The fact that I didn't have anything to do but sulk over my ruined birthday didn't help much as I waited for my parent's "verdict." Sighing, I flipped myself around, so that I was sitting upright on the mattress. So far, this was going just terrific.

By now, I was really starting to warm up to the idea that I was a sorceress. It's not like I could argue, anyways, because the fact that the pool had "coincidentally" risen out of the pool and drenched everything but me was no help on my part. So now, I was temporarily grounded for, um…transferring…all the pool water to our (now) flooded backyard. I'd given up at denying it. I'd just get into more trouble. Now, though, I was trying to remember a few of the "coincidences" in my life that I had just ignored.

1. When I was six, I'd once yelled "cookie!" and a whole dang cookie jar flew at my head. 2. Later, during fifth grade, after my teacher had really ticked me off, I was starting to wonder how funny it'd be if the flagpole above her head "accidentally" fell, and…you can probably guess what happened. 3. Seventh grade: a bully from my school had decided to steal my lunch, so I'd shouted back, "You're such a PIG!" (figuratively speaking, of course)…and the doctors are still trying to remove the pink snout that had erupted from his face. 4. Eighth grade: there was this one cheerleader I had really hated, and one day she took it too far, so I just glared at her pom-poms, and they magically came to life, whacking her on her pretty little head as she ran around screaming. Let's just say she never cheered for our team again…at least, not with her pom-poms.

At this point, I was really starting to wonder how I had ever denied the fact that I was a little…or a lot…beyond normal. I mean really, how was I ever able to ignore everything that had happened, all the magic that I'd done but never really thought twice about? The more I thought about it, the more obvious it seemed. I came to the conclusion that I must have been a really stupid kid.

After I'd had this settled, I began to think about the idea of being a…sorceress. How much magic could I do? Was it like the way they described it in the stories? How many others were there? What would a school of sorceresses be like? My patience was wearing down as I waited…and waited…and waited. I had way too many questions to ask to keep myself still. How long could it take for them to decide?

Instead, I tried not to think about it at all. I tried staring at the opposite wall. Didn't help. What about reading a book? Most of them were fantasy, dealing with magic. Music? Outside, in the living room. Computer? Not working. So, I just settled with falling asleep, which actually came to me easier than I thought it would. All I had to do was close my eyes, and…

"Samantha, honey, wake up," my mother said, prodding me awake.

I opened my eyes drowsily. "Er…huh?"

She smiled. "It's morning."

I yawned as I rubbed my eyes. "Already?"

My mother nodded.

I blinked in the early morning sunlight, trying to recall the events of the night before. All I could remember was dream… "Hey, Mom, I had the strangest dream last night…"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What kind of dream?"

After thinking it over, I laughed lightly. "It was really weird. I had a dream that I found out I was a sorceress, and—"

"Samantha, that wasn't a dream."

All I could do was groan. "You couldn't let a girl pretend, could you?" I grabbed my pillow from under me and covered my face. "This…sucks."

My mom smiled half-heartedly. "I'm sorry. I really am, but…we have things to do today."

I removed the pillow and sat up. "Things? What things? They aren't to do with…"

She nodded slowly. "It's for school. You need your supplies. We do have some here, but the rest…you'll need to come with us."

I groaned again. "School supply shopping? For a magic school?"

Her lips pursed as I mentioned the "M" word. "Yes."

Something clicked in my head as I remembered a couple of fiction books I had read not long before. "Where are we going, exactly?"

I was not enjoying the look on my mother's face at all. She grinned, as though she had just been reminded of a fond memory. "Well…where we're going, we'll have to go to Los Angeles first."

I raised an eyebrow. "Los Angeles, California?"

She nodded, grinning. "It's the…easiest way of traveling we have. First, we'll have to drive to L.A., and then…"

I waited…

"We're going realm traveling."


	3. A Different Way of Traveling

**Author's Note: **Sorry in advance for spelling, grammar, etc. mistakes. Please give reviews!

**Disclaimer: **Sadly,I do not own the different books I used as ideas for this story.

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Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 3: A Different Way of Traveling

I guess I had expected to do something unusual that day, something out of the ordinary that had to do with magic. But realm traveling? What the heck was that? And why did we have to go to L.A. first? If we were traveling the way I thought we were, then wasn't there any spell that could just create a portal we could zip through? I was still a bit confused when we got in the car and drove off to L.A., while my Dad grumbled something about why we were taking the long way—though I couldn't imagine how this realm thingy would ever be the _long_ way. Still, I tried not to ask too many questions along the way.

"What's realm traveling?" Remember that I said I _tried _not to ask too many questions, not that I didn't at all.

"You'll see," was all my mother said cheerfully. I was starting to get suspicious now; how could traveling between realms make her the least bit happy? Maybe I didn't want to know.

I waited a second before popping another question. "So…Harlington Academy is a magic school for sorceresses?"

My father nodded.

"What about for boys…er, sorcerers?"

"They have their own school." His tone was firm, obviously telling me he didn't want to continue on the subject.

So I skipped to another question. "So if sorcerers and all that are real, what about others, like unicorns and dragons?"

The silence dragged on for a few moments before my mom finally answered. "Some are fiction, some are not."

I rocked back and forth in my seat as I thought of something else to ask. "Are you also both…you-know-what's?"

They both sighed. "Yes."

I wrinkled my nose. "That's why you won't ever tell me about your jobs, then?"

Tension filled the car. My father's grip on the steering wheel tightened, my mother sat rigidly straight. "It's…complicated," my mom finally answered.

"Oh." I had no idea what my mother had meant by that, but I was suspecting it wasn't really their choice whether they say anything or not. So, for about five more minutes, I stayed quiet, and watched the scenery zip by the window.

Then, I remembered something that I had been pondering over last night; a question that had been bothering me since my near death experience. But it took me a moment to ask it. "Um…Mom? Dad?"

They turned their heads a fraction of an inch to show they were listening.

"What…exactly…happened last night? Where did the stranger go?" I bit my lip, waiting.

Nobody answered, and I had to repeat my question. "What…did you _do_ to him?"

I could see my dad snarl from the rear view mirror, and I shrank back in my seat. "There are some things we can't tell you, Samantha. Not now. For now…let's just say he won't bother you again. Ever."

At the mention of this, I winced. I wasn't stupid...he had said enough so that I could put the pieces together. And secretly, I agreed. But now, I was starting to wonder whether my dad would always be there to protect me…and what would happen when he was gone.

"What is this?" I put my hands on my hips and leaned to one side as I observed the building in front of me.

"This," my mother stated, "is our only way of transporting through realms for another hundred miles around."

I stared back at the building. It wasn't entirely huge and grand, as I had expected. In fact, I wouldn't even classify it as much of a decent looking building. It was pretty average…from my point of view it just looked like a small square box made of brick with a couple of windows and a door pasted on it. But then again, my mother had told me to expect the unexpected.

And as we entered through the squeaky front door, I really didn't know what I expected…maybe it was bewitched somehow or a spell had been cast on it to make it look normal from the outside. But no. If it had looked mediocre on the outside, it was worse from the interior. If possible, the walls were even more plain and old looking, with the grimy floors covered with a thick layer of dust. On one side of the room, there was a counter with a bored-looking receptionist sitting behind it, and a pair of doors along the opposite wall. That was all.

My parents strode in, as though they had done this more than often, and stood in front of the counter. The receptionist didn't even look up from the magazine she was reading.

After waiting for a moment, my father finally cleared his throat and my mother tapped her foot impatiently.

The receptionist peered at us through the top of her glasses, and raised an eyebrow. Eventually, in a dull, monotonous, and slightly irritated tone she asked, "Can I get you something?"

"1001 Ryndasal Ave., Caells please," my father said. At least, I think I heard correctly.

I expected the receptionist to stare at him incredulously, or at least assure him that such a place didn't exist. Instead, to my surprise, she held out her hand, palm up.

After a short sigh, my father took a golden coin about the size of a quarter out of his pocket and dropped it into her hand.

The lady quickly glanced down at the money, and looked back at him again expectantly. My parents just stared back, waiting. I was about to tell my parents to give her _actual_ money, when the receptionist stated, "The price has gone up. It requires two gold collings to travel."

My father looked like he was just about to protest, but my mother laid a hand on his shoulder and glanced at him warningly. Reluctantly, my father dug in his pocket and dropped another coin in the woman's hand. With a satisfied smile, she put the coins in her pocket. She gave a small flourish of her hand, and out of nowhere, a small key popped up on the counter. "Go through the left door and continue on until you arrive at the end of the corridor. State your destination, bla bla bla…and thank you for traveling with us." As though we were never there, she picked her magazine back up and skimmed through the pages.

I immediately felt my mother drag me to the door on the left at the opposite side of the room. My dad quickly swept up the keys and followed behind us.

Before we had left the room, I caught a glance back at the gloomy receptionist, who was still reading behind the counter. I just barely saw her brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear—her pointed ear—before the door closed shut behind me.

We had entered a long corridor similar to the room we had just left, except this one had no windows, and just one door at the very end of the hallway. I don't know why…but even though it looked to be a pretty close distance, the space between me and the end of the corridor felt far away. Even as I started heading toward it, it didn't feel like we were getting any closer. The door even seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

It took me a moment to realize we had been walking a while, and the door hadn't gotten any closer. Every once in a while, I looked up at my mother, puzzled, trying to figure out why we weren't getting anywhere. After a minute, I started getting impatient. "How long have we been walking?"

A smile crept across my father's face. "Be patient, Samantha. This isn't _normal _traveling. Did you expect to get from realm to realm so quickly?"

"_This _is what you meant by realm traveling?"

"Yes," my mom said slowly, "we're going to the realm of magical creatures, the immortals, and sorcerers and sorceresses. We call it the Witch's Realm."

I struggled to keep a steady pace. "Witch's Realm? But I thought—"

"Yes, sorceresses and witches are the same, but that was our most common name at the time," she interrupted. "Anyways, the actual name for the Witch's Realm is Caells."

I recognized the name of the place my father had mentioned earlier. "How exactly do we get to…erm…Caells?"

My dad just chuckled. "Really, Samantha, haven't you ever heard of traveling through doors? Or is it not in your books?"

All I did was shrug. "I guess not."

He shook his head. "You have so much to learn."

"What's Caells like?" I wondered, more to myself.

"It's not really different from the mortal world," my mother answered. "There's just something…magical about it."

I snorted. "No surprise there."

We had walked another minute more, before my father looked down at me. "Samantha, now that you know about all this…people like us…I suggest you always be prepared for anything you can imagine, and more."

"What do you mean by more?"

But my father wasn't able to answer, as a second later, he smiled again. "Here we are." Before I knew it, the door popped up right in front of me. Seriously, I didn't know how that happened. One moment, we were still on the other side of the corridor, and the next, we're right in front of the door.

My mother grabbed me by the arm before my face could smack the wood. I nearly fell backwards as she tried to steady me. Without hesitation, my dad took the key he'd been holding. "Crystal Plaza, Caells." Then he placed the key in the door, turning it with a _click_. After pressing on the door with one hand, the door swung open, releasing a gush of air and blinding sunlight. I closed my eyes against the sudden change.

My dad held open the door for me, while I stumbled out into the open air. My mom took my hand and led me out a little ways further. After blinking a few times in the bright light, my eyes finally adjusted, just before widening. No matter how many times my parents would ever tell me to expect the unexpected, or always be prepared to face anything, I could have never been prepared for what I saw.

"Welcome to the Witch's Realm."


	4. School Supply Shopping?

**Author's Note: **Sorry peoples, if this chapter is freakishly long! Actually, it's about double the length of my former chapters. From here on, my chapters will be about this long. But this is also where some ideas of mine started to kick in (I rarely have ideas, so this is good!) In my opinion, it's a bit more exciting that the last two. Anyways, be prepared to read! A lot!

P.S. Don't forget to review!! Or else!

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Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 4: School Supply Shopping?

Really, if I tried, I could never really describe what the Witch's Realm was like. Now, I knew what my mom had meant about it being "magical." Even that was an understatement. For one, there was just the variety of different CREATURES there.

I didn't actually know any of their names, since I never really listened during my teacher's Greek Mythology lectures about the different who's-its and what's-its. Some of them I already knew just from fairy tales and myths and stories. You name the creature or monster, it was there! I didn't even know there were so many. There were some that were half animal/half human, or half animal/half other animal, or half something/half something else I couldn't figure out. It was all REALLY confusing. Even as I moved out of the way for a disgruntled half human/half horse (I think it's called a centaur, right?), I nearly tripped over a tiny fairy, who flew away, glaring after me indignantly. And as we passed the water fountain in the middle of the plaza, a couple of mermaids smiled and waved at me. I thought I was hallucinating.

Then, there was the place itself. The plaza was shaped in a large ring, surrounding all around us until it got to the sidewalks by the street. In the gaps between the buildings, I could see another path that led through to more shops. It sort of reminded me of an oversized flee market, swarming with the different people and creatures bustling around. Even the sun cast itself down onto the pavement, its rays reaching every corner, making the setting glimmer invitingly. Every building, some small and large, stood over our heads, beaming down at us. The whole plaza seemed ancient, kind of like when you enter some old ruins or something, but grander, and complete. At the same time, though, it seemed brand new. Even though it _seemed_ like a regular shopping plaza, it was…different, somehow. I never knew exactly how.

As I was just getting over my daze, my parents were chatting to each other, looking down at something in my father's hands. It was a paper. Just a regular, old white paper. I couldn't believe they were focusing on THAT thing rather than the dream spread out before us. "Um…Mom? Dad?"

At the sound of my voice, my parents' heads snapped up from the sheet, staring at me questioningly, like they'd forgotten I was even there. My mom recovered first. "Yes?"

"Not that I want to be nosy, but…what's that?" I pointed to the paper, and stood on my tiptoes, trying to get a better look.

"Oh…this?" My mom took the paper from my father's hands, and dangled it loosely between her thumb and forefinger. "This is just your school supplies."

My dad, after yanking the paper back from my mom's possession, smiled back at me. "This is all the books and…other things…you'll need."

I cocked my head curiously. "_Other _things?" What other things? What could they be? Wands? Brooms? Owls? Cauldrons? Robes? The basic Harry Potter stuff?

It took a while for either of my parents to answer. "Mhmm. Other things."

Obviously, they weren't going to budge…for now. "Oh…ok." I tried to look cheerful, without much luck.

After another long while, my mom sighed. "Might as well get this over with. Samantha, you'll need to come with me to get you fitted into your new uniforms, and then…we'll have to go on to your wand—and amulet."

Ok, uniform…of course. Wand…I was expecting. But what was an amulet? By dictionary definition, I'd heard it was supposed to be a protecting charm you wore or something, like a necklace. I decided to wait to find out the answer.

My parents had decided that we split up, with my mom and I shopping for my uniform, wand, and "amulet," while my dad would look for my "other supplies," which he still wouldn't tell me about. We were about to head in opposite directions, when a figure suddenly came out of nowhere. I ended up walking right into it. I could just barely make out the shape of a man when I slammed into him and fell backwards on my butt. Major ouch!

The man, on the other hand, just blinked at me curiously as though he hadn't felt a thing and was wondering why I was sitting on the ground, rubbing my back.

He was still standing there with a puzzled expression when my father spoke up behind me, "William! It's nice to see _you_ here."

He looked up and flashed a smile at my father. "Oh, morning, Mr. Brooks. Nice to see you too. What are you doing here in Caells?" His voice had a polite, light, and cheerful tone to it. I finally lifted my head up to get a better look at him. And, I got the breath knocked out of me, but for a totally different reason than the first time.

Ends up that he didn't look much older than me. Maybe by two or three years, tops. But that wasn't the reason why I almost gasped. Simply, it was because of his looks.

He wasn't a half-animal or anything, in fact, he looked almost completely human. Almost. My eyes outlined his white, almost transparent skin, the sleek, jet black hair, his cold smile, even the way he held himself, like a frozen marble statue. He seemed too strange, too _beautiful_ in fact, to be human. What stood out most, though, and scared me half to death, were his eyes, completely black and depthless, with dark, shadowy rings encircling the rim of his eyelids. Almost exactly like the stalker from the night before.

No, of course they weren't the same person. The stalker had looked much more threatening than William, not to mention a lot older. His voice was slightly different as well. Now that I think about it, though, the other stranger might have been handsome, too; I just hadn't noticed it. But what if—

"Actually, Laura and I are here with our daughter, Samantha," my father said, breaking through my train of thought. "She's attending Harlington Academy."

"Oh, really?" he looked mildly interested. "For sorceresses?"

"Yes."

"Well," William said. "Good for you, then." He smiled at me.

I gulped. The light just caught his dazzling smile, enough for me to notice that two of his teeth (his two top canines, actually) were much sharper than the rest. My heart started to race as I realized I really HADN'T been over exaggerating. He really was a…a…a…

Suddenly, William's smile widened and he finished for me, "Vampire?"

My mouth gaped open. Wait, I didn't say that aloud, did I? Oh my gosh, if I had, I was so totally—

"No, you _were_ saying it in your head," William answered my unfinished thought, again.

I looked to my mom and dad desperately for help. Strangely, they weren't surprised. More like annoyed. My dad was staring off into space, narrowing his eyes, while my mother was pursing her lips in irritation. I reluctantly turned my head again to face William. Then, how did he…?

"You really don't know?" He smiled at me all-knowingly, making me feel like a four year old. "I can read people's minds."

This took a moment to register. Mind. Reading. Again, it was something I thought was only true in books. Guess not. "H-how?" was all I could stutter.

"It runs in the family," William replied, as though that made any more sense.

"Oh."

He nodded. "Well, I better be off now." He turned to my parents. "It really was good to see you again. But I have to…you know, hunt." And before my parents could utter a reply, he was gone. Just like that.

I let a breath I had no idea I'd been holding. I wanted to know who the heck he was, why he could read my mind, and _what_ exactly he meant by "hunting." But apparently, my parents didn't want to answer.

"Well…" my mother said slowly. "That was just…wonderful. It's only been, what, a day, and you've already met two vampires?" Wait, two? So the stranger _was_ a vampire? "We should head off before we run into anyone else. Right, Tom?"

"Right," my father said. "I'll see you both later." Then, he left too, leaving me and my mom behind.

An awkward silence fell between my mom and me as we headed through the path between the buildings to the other side, where another half ring of smaller shops and stores stood. For a while, the only thing I could do was watch my mother as she checked and rechecked the shops, frowning as she did so. A few times, I even heard her mutter, "I was SURE it was right _here_." Every once in a while, she'd stop in front of a building, shake her head, and walk away.

After almost ten minutes had passed, I couldn't help but tap my mom on her shoulder and suggest, "You know, maybe you could tell me which store you're looking for, so I could help too."

"I'm fine," she snapped back. I stayed quiet.

But, after another five minutes passed, I had gotten impatient of waiting. "Mom, really, I CAN help. You just have to tell me which one it is!"

My mom opened her mouth, as though to argue, but then she closed it again. "Maybe it is best." She peered at the buildings again. "I'm looking for an amulet shop. I believe there's only one."

It only took me two seconds to find it, considering we were standing right in front of the sign. "Uhh…Mom?" I pointed at the small, squat and faded brownish-orange building, with the old, worn letters hanging lopsided above the door. It must have been a lot older than I thought, because the sign was written both in English and some other foreign language I couldn't decipher.

"What? Did you see it?" She squinted in the direction. "What about it?"

"There it is!" I shouted. "_The Seeing Eye Amulets and Antiques Shop_. See it?"

I expected my mom to say, "Oh, I can't believe I didn't see that!" or at least lead me to it, but she didn't anything, except blink. "What?"

Maybe I hadn't been clear enough. "Look," I said. "Right there in front of your eyes! Are you _blind_?"

I thought she was kidding when she answered, "Are you sure, honey? I can't see anything next to the bookstore."

"It's on the left of that."

My mother just frowned at me like I was crazy. "There's nothing there."

"What do you mean, there's _nothing_ there?"

"It's just a blank wall."

I shook my head. "No, it isn't."

"Samantha," my mother said slowly, "there is no shop there. Nothing. We should just search somewhere else."

"So you're saying I'm just seeing things? How, then, could I've known the shop's name?"

She didn't say anything else.

After a long pause, I sighed. "Fine, then. But I'm going in, and I'm SHOWING you that there is a shop, after all." I started to walk forward.

But just as I was mid-step, my mom grabbed me by my arm and held me back, twirling me around to face her. "Samantha, don't you find it…odd…that you can see it and I can't?"

I thought over this. "I don't know, maybe you just need glasses."

Thankfully, she ignored that. "Well, I just remembered something…from when I was your age and I was going to the shop, like you. I went inside alone."

"Why? Your parents left you?"

She shook her head. "No. It was because they weren't…allowed inside."

"Why not?"

"You can only go inside that store once," she said. "You go in, get your amulet, get out, and never come back."

"And the reason for that is…?"

My mother hesitated before answering, "It's complicated. The Seer will explain it to you once you get your amulet." Her head turned to glance behind me at the building. "Maybe you should go now, just in case."

I seriously doubted it would disappear on me too, and I still had questions. "But Mom, what's an amulet?"

"I told you the Seer will explain. Now go."

"But—"

"GO," she said, more firmly this time. My mom pushed me towards the general direction of the shop.

And, after a moment's hesitation, I stumbled to the door. It creaked open before I could even place my hand on the doorknob.

. . .

The first thing that struck me was the chill, icy temperature of the room. A draft drifted and coiled uncomfortably around me, raising goose bumps on my bare arms. I shivered as I plodded a few steps forward.

The building was nothing like the exterior. In the brilliant sunlight, it looked like nothing more than an old, crumbly shop, gradually deteriorating in the scorching summer heat. Inside, though, was hidden in shadows, and the only light I could see was coming from a slit through one of the covered windows.

"H-hello?" I stammered out to the darkness.

I could just barely see the silhouette of a person stir around in the shadows in front of me. It moved about an inch, then became still again.

"H-Hello?" I repeated. "I-Is anyone there?"

A dry, raspy voice seemed to call out from every direction, "Samantha Brooks."

I winced. The sound of the voice was like nails scraping against chalkboard. And how did she know my name? "Yes?"

The voice got louder. "What is your business here?"

I winced again involuntarily. "I-I'm here for my a-amulet," I replied shakily.

Footsteps came from nearby. "Tell me, child, are you certain you are ready?"

"Ready…for what?"

"Are you ready for a life of sorcery? To leave behind your normal life? When you've only been told your true identity yesterday, on your fourteenth birthday, no less?" it hissed.

I gulped, my fingers twitching. How could she know so much? Was she like William, where she could read my thoughts? Because she seemed to be repeating the exact same thing I kept asking myself. Could I just leave? No, it was too late now. If I turned back, I could never come here again. "Yes. I-I am."

There was a pause. "I hope you are certain of your choice, Samantha Brooks. For if you change your mind later, it will be too late to give up your decision. So for the last time, are you ready?"

I exhaled. "I am ready," I said more confidently than I felt.

A torturous silence followed. I was just thinking about breaking it, when someone…or something…stepped forward into a weak stream of sunlight coming through the window.

Immediately, I had to cover my mouth to stifle a scream. _It_ looked like an ancient, frail lady, her skin wrinkled and leathery, back hunched over, bony fingers sticking out of her hands like deformed twigs. But she had no eyes. Not even empty sockets to prove she had ever _did_ have eyes. Just blank spaces of skin. The sharp, beaklike nose was still there, along with the thin-lipped mouth, but no eyes. It was like she'd been born without any.

Her mouth curved into a toothless smile. "Surprised?"

"W-what…?" I began, but couldn't find any words.

"What happened? What am I?" she finished. "I am the Seer, also known as the Oracle. I am older than you can even imagine. Long ago, eons ago, two of my eyes were taken away, for people were jealous of my Sight." She pressed one hand over the other. "I can see many things, Samantha Brooks. Many people used to come to me to ask about the future, what I could see about them. That was before they considered me dangerous. Now, I am locked up in _this_ place, where I hand over my precious gems for sorcerers to use as their amulets."

I didn't say anything.

"But you're not here to learn about my history, are you?" she questioned, her eyeless face turning to me. "You're here to receive your amulet."

I bit my lip. "Excuse me, Seer, but I was just wondering…what is an amulet, anyways?"

Her eyebrows knitted together. "You do not know?"

"My mother said you could tell me."

The head nodded, slowly. "Of course. Dear Laura…I remember her. Her amulet was an amethyst, after her birthday."

My mother's birthday was in February. An amethyst…wasn't that her birthstone? I'd seen her carrying one around in her necklace. She never took that thing off…wait a minute! "Seer, do sorcerers and sorceresses wear amulets…like necklaces?"

"Sometimes," she answered. "That's how the whole concept of amulets came along."

"Oh." I squinted. "Wait, what if you ever lost it?"

The Seer let out a low laugh. "Impossible. Wherever you go, your amulet follows. It's connected to you, your power source. Every amulet is different. They may be the same kind of gem, but they each hold the individual's power, even the very presence of the sorcerer or sorceress. It becomes a part of you."

"But does it ever…break?"

Her thin lips pursed. "You must gain much power to break an amulet when the possessor's alive. Otherwise, it shatters instantly once you die."

I swallowed. "What happens if someone breaks it while the owner's still alive?"

"You lose all your power, but you live on. You become a normal human. But if you die…so does the amulet."

I shivered, but not from the cold. "If you break it, can you ever get another one?"

"No," the Seer answered sharply. "You can only come here once. Once you get your amulet, it's your only one for the rest of your life."

I gazed down at the floor. "Oh." That's a little harsh.

Everything was quiet for a few minutes. I just stood there and waited for something to happen. Finally, when I couldn't take it anymore, I asked, "Seer…may I get my amulet now?"

She nodded. "All I ask is for you to stand still until I say you may move."

Instantly, I froze. "O-Ok."

The Seer slowly separated her hands, and held them out in front of her, palms forward. My eyes widened in horror. I figured out what she meant by "two of my eyes," because…there were two extra on her hands, one on each. They darted from side to side, until they finally rested upon me, blinking. I couldn't find any voice to scream.

I was still too terrified to move even when the Seer stepped forward and placed one eye to my forehead and the other to my chest, where my heart was beating erratically. I could feel the iciness of her hands, and I shivered again. She kept them there for a second…two…

Then, all of a sudden, I could see some of my memories and thoughts flashing before my eyes. Was I dying? No, I felt perfectly fine, but then what…?

The Seer stepped backward, her hands dropping to her sides. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as I wobbled precariously and tried to regain my balance. It was as if all my energy had been drained, and it took a lot of effort just to remain standing. When I could finally stand still again, the Seer cleared her throat. "Strange…very strange…"

I blinked incomprehensibly. "What?"

She shook her head. "There's more to your future than I thought, Samantha Brooks. It's very…complicated. Love, power, war..." She trailed off. "You're different from most sorceresses."

There were a lot of things she said that made me nervous. 1. Did she just say _love_? 2. It's one thing to be told your different from the average human, but finding out that I was different from the totally not average sorceress really made my day. 3. It's great to hear the Seer (who can see everything, obviously) tell you that you have a very complicated future. Just great.

"Your amulet is not what I expected," the Seer began again, "Being born in July, I thought your stone would be a ruby."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ok…so what is it?"

The Seer turned around and trudged towards the shadows. "Come." She gestured for me to follow.

I walked along behind her as we slid into the dark, away from the door and sunlight. I rubbed my arms as the temperature steadily dropped to an even more freezing degree. Cautiously, I continued to trace her steps as another old door creaked open ahead. When we stepped into the next room, I couldn't see a thing. The only thing I was aware of was the tiny trickling of water somewhere nearby. I froze on the spot when I also heard a low rumble from my left. It got louder and louder, until I realized it wasn't just a rumble; something was growling.

"Scruffy!" I nearly jumped at the raspy sound of the Seer's voice calling out to something. "Down, boy!" After a low whimper, that something large plunked down to the ground. In the dark, I could just barely make out the form of a dog. I must've been seeing things, but the dog looked like an overly large Rottweiler.

"Um…" I didn't know what to say.

"I had to have some sort of company, didn't I?" the Seer answered, and I could hear her mood shift; it was almost…cheerful. "He also makes a great guard dog."

"Hm," I nodded, though I couldn't help thinking how odd it was for a billion year old Seer to be saying that about a dog.

I heard the Seer shuffling forward again, and I followed suit. After a while, I noticed that the trickling of water had gotten louder. It sounded like we were next to a spring or some source of water. I finally saw it after my eyes had adjusted.

It was a large, circular fountain, filled up three quarters of the way with crystal clear water. It was simple, with water spurting out from the small statue of a mermaid, sitting in the middle of the fountain and smiling. A dim light seemed to be emanating from the bottom of the fountain. I tried to bend over and peek in.

"Samantha Brooks."

My head popped right back up to look at the Seer. "Yeah?"

"Do you or do you not want your amulet?" she asked, almost impatiently.

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"Then, listen." She paused. "Close your eyes."

I obeyed.

"Without opening them, stand at the very edge of the fountain," she whispered.

As told, I edged the rim of the basin, my head tilted over the edge.

"Open them."

My eyelids fluttered open. Down at the bottom of the fountain, glittering and sparkling in the dim light, was a necklace. The pendant was a metal six-pointed star, and delicately placed in it was a smooth, deep blue gem, the color of the ocean on a clear night. It was strange the way light reflected off the surface in the shape of an asterism. I wondered what kind of gem it was… "What is it?"

"It is your amulet," the Seer stated. "A star sapphire."

"A star sapphire?" I repeated wonderingly. I reached into the water, wincing as my arm was engulfed in the cold water, and pulled out the sapphire. I fingered the glowing gem delicately, wondering where the Seer could have gotten it. I was just about to thank her, when—

"You are done here."

I blinked, and suddenly, she, the giant Rottweiler, and the fountain were gone. I was back outside, and the burning sunlight was blinding me.

"Samantha!" a voice yelled from behind me. I yelped in surprise as she grabbed me by my waist and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank goodness, you're back! I was starting to worry!"

"Mom, please…let go!" I gasped for air.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Samantha," my mother backed away, beaming. "So, did you get your amulet?"

I gripped my sapphire tightly in the palm of my hand. "Yeah. It's a…star sapphire, I think the Seer said?"

My mother frowned slightly. "Star…sapphire? Never heard of it." She shrugged. "Ah, well. The good thing is that you're back. And you won't have to go back in there."

I half smiled, just before glancing over my shoulder. As expected, there was now a blank brick wall where the shop used to be. Like she'd told me, I would never be able to go back. And for some reason, I was relieved. Being inside that place had given me the creeps. Just thinking about it sent a chill down my spine.

"So," my mother interrupted the silence, "Are you ready to get the rest of your supplies? We don't have much time left."

Clutching the gem, I grinned at my mother. "Yeah," I said, putting the amulet around my neck, "let's go."


	5. Left Behind

**Author's Note: **Chapter 6 will come out soon, but chapter 7 may take a bit longer, since it took me about a week to finish chapter 6. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

By the way, I realized I only have...I think 2...people actually reading this story and reviewing or sending me a message! Do you know how disappointing that is?! It makes me sad to see that so few people seem to take an interest in this story at all. So please, review! Or do SOMETHING! Anyhow, enough with my babbling, go ahead and read!

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Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 5: Left Behind

Getting the rest of the supplies I needed for school didn't take as long as I thought it would, and it definitely wasn't as complicated or confusing as acquiring the amulet. The uniform, obviously, just took a little time, with the fitting at all (ends up there are no robes, just the average private school uniform, with a navy blue plaid skirt, white button-up collared shirt, and a matching tie), and getting my new wand took, like, what? Five minutes? It wasn't spectacular, with the whole lighting up the room thing or suddenly having a rush of power or anything like that. All I did was wave a few wands around, and then, "That works well for you! Here you go, that'll be five gold collings, please!" I was in and out faster than I could even comprehend which wand I was getting, or how I managed to even get out my money before the salesclerk shoved me out of the store and tended to the next customer. Two words: how rude!

It was only seconds before my mom appeared by my side. "What kind of wand did you get?"

I shrugged, opening the box. "She was talking too fast for me to hear. Something about willow…8 inches."

"Oh, that's nice," my mother said absent-mindedly, lifting the wand in her fingers. "It looks…great."

Great…right. The wand looked like it had been used before, though my mom assured me that wands were owned only once. The pale brown of the wood looked ancient and coarse, with a rough, leathery black handle. If it wasn't used before, I bet it'd been sitting in that box for a heck of a long time. I would be sure to get a splinter once or twice if I wasn't careful. Not to mention it looked as breakable as a twig. Basically, it sucked. But it was better than nothing.

My mom glanced at her watch before announcing, "Right on time! We should go. You know your father hates waiting." We headed back to the meeting place

Soon, we found my dad, who was tapping his foot impatiently, despite the fact that he was carrying a truckload of books…fun for me…and all sorts of other objects like a cauldron (they need cauldrons?), telescope, scales, phials, notebooks, pencils, and much more (I wonder how he was able to carry so much). After my mom had grumbled about all the junk we'd had to buy, we went back home through realm traveling.

Nothing was said much on the ride home. I couldn't help but think about how little I still knew, and how I could ever catch up with everyone else. Maybe there would be other girls like me who hadn't been given a clue as to what they were. Then again, maybe not. My parents were a little...overprotective. But after the vampire stalker incident, it was safe to say I could understand why. I guessed I'd just have to learn more on my own. It's not like I had much of a choice (unless there was a spell to rewind time). With that pushed aside, other problems were starting to bug me.

I was playing with the amulet hanging from my neck, when I thought about how much Hannah would FREAK if she knew about this. But would she believe me if I told her? Would she just laugh and say I could never prove it? She'd think I was crazy, but what if I did show her? Would she freak out, or would she understand? Maybe, it was just better not to tell anyone…

But I was leaving. I felt a twinge of guilt, as I knew I couldn't leave without any explanation since I had promised I would stick with Hannah through it all, even all the way through high school, whether we fought or not. But would me-being-not-human count as an exception? One thing was obvious: Hannah was going to be hurt one way or the other. I just hoped she'd understand eventually. But what about Jared? I was so close to telling him, so close to saying what I really felt, I just needed the perfect moment to come along. If I left now, all chances of that would be cut off. The only times I could see Jared or Hannah were during the summer or Christmas break. It was going to be hard…saying goodbye…and I wasn't sure if I could do it without breaking down into tears. With Hannah, that wouldn't be a problem, but Jared…maybe Hannah could just pass the news along. Jared didn't need me. There were plenty of girls who would die to be his girlfriend. I grimaced at the thought.

"Samantha?" my mom asked with concern. "Are you ok?"

Shoot. It's not so easy keeping your thoughts to yourself if you're an open book. Keeping a straight face, I said with exaggerated annoyance to my voice, "I'm fine, Mom. Stop worrying."

She didn't look too convinced. "Alright then, Sam. But if anything's ever bothering you, you can tell me or your father, ok?"

I nodded. "'Kay." With a small smile, she turned around again.

I sunk lower into my seat, groaning inwardly. I would have to put off the worrying for now, unless I wanted my mom to call a shrink.

. . .

"Sam! Sam! Hello? Are you there?" Hannah said loudly into the phone.

I came back to the present. "I'm still here, Hannah. You don't have to shout."

"I had to, you didn't answer my question!" she whined.

"About what?"

"The sleepover, duh!"

I rolled my eyes. I didn't exactly have much room in my mind left for sleepover troubles. I sighed. "What about?"

"Don't you listen to anything?" she groaned exasperatedly. "I asked if you were still coming! We planned this, like, weeks ago! You know, tonight's sleepover? The one you already forgot about? Jeez, Sam. You've been so distant lately."

There's a reason for that. "I'm sorry, Hannah, it's just…" I stared at the opposite wall. "I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"I've noticed." With a half second pause, she asked, "Can't you tell me? I've been so worried about you lately. And so has Jared."

I bit my lip. "He has? I mean, you both have?"

"Yeah," she said, "Since your birthday, you've never called me, whenever I see you at summer school, you're always in a daze; you hardly ever pay attention anymore! What happened at that party, Sam?"

My lip started bleeding. "I-I don't know, Hannah. It's complicated."

There was another short silence. "But," she began, "we're BFFs, right? I mean, you can tell me anything! We promised we wouldn't keep any secrets since fifth grade! Unless you need me to remind you of that time you stole my favorite shirt and—"

"I know, Hannah, I know," I snapped. That time seemed so long ago. "This is just…different."

"Different how?"

I sighed again. More different than I could ever admit. "Really different. But…I'll tell you part of it at the sleepover, ok?"

There was a long pause. "Ok. You promise?"

"I promise."

"'Kay then. See you tonight!"

"Bye." And I hung up.

The rest of the day passed quickly, as it usually did whenever I was dreading something. I was trying to think of ways to break it to Hannah gently that I wasn't going through high school with her, like we had originally planned. And so far, all of them ended up with her bursting into tears and crying for me to stay. There was no way I could go through this and come out in one mentally stable piece.

Before I knew it, my mom had waved me goodbye and dropped me off on Hannah's doorstep. I dragged my feet to the door, and just as I was about to push the doorbell, Hannah swung open the door.

"Sam!" she squealed. "You came!"

I plastered on my best smile. "Hey Hannah!"

She pulled me into a quick hug, before taking my hand and leading me up the stairs to her room. "Did you bring your sleeping bag and pajamas?"

"Right—" I held the bag up for her to see, "here." I dropped it on the floor.

"Great," she beamed. "Well, my mom brought pizza downstairs, so do you want to eat pizza first or watch the movie?"

"Pizza."

"Let's go, then!" We headed back downstairs to the dining room.

Thankfully, I didn't have to talk much for a while since Hannah was usually the chatterbox. The whole time we ate, I was able to pass with just a few, "Mhmm,"s or "Yeah, I know,"s or an occasional, "So true!"

It wasn't until we'd started watching the movie that she was starting to ask me the questions. "So, Sam…"

I looked up at her warily. "Yeah?"

"How've you been?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hannah, you just called this morning."

"I know, but…" She paused. "How have you been since then?"

I stared down at the floor. "Fine."

Her gaze focused on me. "No." It wasn't a question. "You're not fine."

Neither of us said anything for a while.

"Sam…" she started up again, "remember that thing you were going to tell me?"

I tried to pretend like I forgot. "What thing?"

She groaned. "You remember, you promised over the phone you'd tell me what was bothering you so much."

"It wasn't bothering me—"

"Sam."

Nervously, I played with my fingers. "Ok, fine. It is. But I don't know how I can tell you."

Hannah straightened in her seat. "What is it about?"

I closed my eyes. I decided it was better to be honest and straightforward. "I'm not going to River Wood High School, Hannah."

I could almost count the seconds that the silence lasted. It was almost the longest Hannah had gone without uttering a word. "Why?" she finally asked.

"I'm going to a private school."

Her voice was much calmer than I would have expected, "Where?"

"It's called Harlington Academy. It's an all girl's school."

She frowned. "I've never heard of it."

I bit my lip. "It's in Washington."

Another silence. "You're leaving. And you're not visiting…until Christmas."

"Maybe."

Her voice quivered. "Maybe? You promised, Sam. You promised we would be best friends all through high school! You promised!"

I finally had the courage to look up. She was in tears. "Hannah…"

"Don't you _Hannah_ me!" she shouted. "I can't believe you're doing this! You're leaving Jared and me! What kind of friend are you?!"

"I didn't have a choice!" I protested. "My parents—"

She stood up. "You always have a choice! Just say you don't want to go!"

"You don't understand!"

Hannah snorted. "It's not like they're taking you there by force! Your parents can't make you go! You can't just leave me here! What about Jared?"

I shook my head. "Don't do this…" _This wasn't happening._

"What do you mean?!" she yelled. "You're the one leaving me behind!" She grabbed the bracelet I'd made her in third grade and dropped it on the floor. "Best—" she stomped on it, "friends—" again, "forever!" and jumped on it. The beads broke with tiny cracks.

All I could do was stare at the broken bracelet with horror. "You…that was…Hannah, you couldn't have!"

"I just did." She turned on her heel and stormed to the bed. With one pull, she yanked open the window and hauled my stuff out the window. "Out."

_This wasn't happening_. "Hannah…"

"GET OUT NOW!" she pointed one finger at the door and glared at me until I left, still in my pajamas, and walked home.

. . .

Hannah didn't speak one word to me at all after that. We never hung out anymore, she never called, and even during summer school she ignored me. A couple of times Jared tried to talk to her, even though he had no idea what the fight was about. If he'd ever ask _her_ what it was about, she'd scoff and point at me, saying _I_ was the problem. I couldn't believe any of it. How could she have acted this way? I'd known she'd be upset, and cry a little bit, but I didn't know she'd throw a whole fit. I wished she'd just get over it, but it looked like that wouldn't happen any time soon. Maybe not even before I left.

So eventually, Jared had to ask what it was all about. I told him, with a lot of coaxing, and he seemed so quiet about it I thought he'd never talk to me either. I didn't hear from him for a while, except on that last day before I left.

He'd called. "Um, hey, Sam." He sounded kind of awkward, like he didn't know what to expect of me to say after so long.

"Jared!" I sighed in relief. "Hey, what's up?"

"Um…you said you were leaving today."

I looked down at the suitcase I'd been sitting on. "Yeah, I am."

"Well…" he hesitated. "Can I come say goodbye before you leave? In person?"

"Of course!" I answered happily. "So you're not…mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" He paused, before adding, "By that, I mean I'm not like Hannah. I understand. It just took a moment to sink in."

"Thanks," I said gratefully.

"So…when are you leaving?"

I checked my watch. "In about an hour."

"I'll see you, then?"

I grinned. "See you later."

As he promised, Jared was there before the hour was up. It gave us about…five minutes to say goodbye. By the time he got there, my parents were loading the car, and I was biting my fingernails worriedly.

"You know, that's a bad habit," he suddenly said from behind me.

I nearly jumped about a foot. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there."

He chuckled. "It's ok."

We were both quiet for a moment as we watched my dad heave my heavy suitcase into the back. "Well, I guess…this is goodbye."

"Mhmm." I nodded. Talk about awkward. How are you supposed to say goodbye to a guy you really like and you don't know when you'll see him again? "Um…"

"Sam," he cut in, breaking the awkward silence. "I…I'm going to miss you, while you're gone."

Oh, gosh. Don't cry, Sam, don't cry _now_! Not while he's saying goodbye! He's a guy; he doesn't want to deal with your emotional drama. "I'll miss you too."

He tried to laugh. "I'm so bad at goodbyes."

"Me too."

He looked up at me, staring me straight in the eyes. "When will I see you again?"

I kicked a loose rock. "Maybe…Christmas, if I can."

"Christmas…" he trailed off. "That's so far away."

"Believe me," I half smiled. "I know."

From the car, I could hear my mom yelling, "Samantha! We have to go soon!"

"I'm coming! Just a sec!" I called back.

I turned back to Jared, on the verge of tears. "I guess I'll see you Christmas?"

He sighed. "Yeah…"

I had just turned around, and was about to run to the car, when Jared had grabbed my hand (yes, this actually happened) and stopped me. "Sam, wait."

I was looking at him confusedly, and was just about to ask what he stopped me for, when he kissed me on the cheek (and I'm not kidding when I say I nearly fainted). I had to blink a few times before I could move again. I was probably blushing.

Before I could say anything, Jared smiled at me. "Bye."

I hadn't even recovered by the time my mom had to actually grab my arm and pull me to the car. By the time the door had shut, I could already see Jared turning and leaving. Even though he couldn't hear me, I found myself uttering, "Goodbye." We turned around a corner, leaving my past life behind me.

. . .

We had barely been on the road for more than five minutes when the car stopped. My dad got out of the car, rushing to the trunk to pull out my belongings, while my mom opened the door for me. "Samantha, come on. Get out."

I peered around the door. "We're not here already, are we?"

"No," she laughed. "We're at the bus stop."

"Bus stop?" You've got to be joking. Of all the ways to get to the academy, they choose a bus? I'd rather go realm traveling. Even that would be less boring. "Wouldn't it take a little…long to get there?"

My mother just kept laughing like it was an inside joke. "Not the way you're going."

The only thing I could do was shake my head and help my father unload my suitcases.

I looked around to see that the bus stop was just…a bus stop. Plain and simple. If it weren't for the stop sign and the bench, you'd never know anything could come there at all. The street was empty, the stores were all closed, and the air felt humid like it does just after it rains, which it probably did, considering there were still a few clouds left in the sky. The sun just barely shone through.

My dad watched the sky too, as though the bus was just going to fall right out of it. "Should be coming soon…"

I looked around the corner. There were no vehicles around anywhere. "You sure this is right, Dad?"

"Positive."

I sighed, giving up. Oh well. I'd be fine if it didn't come. I'd rather be driven by my parents anyways. I sat down on the bench, coated with dew, before my dad tapped me on the shoulder. "Samantha."

"Yes?" I leaned back to look at him curiously.

"I want to give you something," he reached in his pocket and pulled out something that looked like…a compact mirror. What my dad would be doing with a mirror in his pocket, I have no idea. "Here."

I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"A spyglass."

I snorted. Weren't spyglasses telescopes? This definitely wasn't a telescope. "Really." I was being sarcastic.

Obviously, my dad couldn't tell. "Open it."

I lifted up the cover. It showed my reflection like a normal mirror. Shoulder-length chocolate brown hair, deep blue eyes the same color as the sapphire, light freckles barely noticeable in the cloudy afternoon, small nose, small mouth, and of course, the little leftover baby fat I always complained about. The same me I had looked at for the past fourteen years. Short, tiny, "petite" me. Nothing new. I looked back at my father questioningly.

He cleared his throat. "Mirror, mirror, in my hand, show me all secrets of the land: Laura Brooks."

My eyes widened as my reflection changed into a different scene: my mother, who was somewhere behind us, was seen heaving something from the back of the car. I looked behind me. I could see her doing the exact same thing, but she wasn't in my direct line of view. So how could the mirror see her? "How'd you do that?"

"I told you," he said. "It's a spyglass."

"So a spyglass," I began, understanding. "Is a glass that can…spy?"

He nodded. "Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." I squinted as I realized something. "Hey…didn't Mom say something about you _throwing away_ your spyglass?"

"Shh," he shushed, holding a finger up. "This is a secret between you and me."

I grinned. "Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime, kiddo," he gave me a one-armed hug. "Now, I should probably help your mother with that luggage." He jogged off to help my mother, who was now stumbling under the weight.

As I watched my mother's expression when my father relieved her of her burden, I had a sudden idea. "Mirror, mirror, in my hand," I said, repeating my father's words, "show me all secrets of the land: Hannah Harris."

Immediately, the picture changed again. It was Hannah. I bit my lip when it showed her sitting on her bed, head in hands, sobbing. I could just barely make out Jared's blonde head next to hers, patting her shoulder consolingly. "I can't believe she's gone…" she choked. "I didn't even have a chance to tell her goodbye…" It was as if I had died.

I couldn't take anymore. I shut the mirror and shoved it in my coat pocket. Right on cue, too. My mom headed over to me, smiling. "Honey, can we talk?"

"Sure."

She sat me down on the bench. "Well, since you're going away so far from home," she sniffed, "I wanted to give you something."

Another present? "Really? What is it?"

My mother held out a bracelet, with a glass heart-shaped charm standing out from the other ordinary beads. I had to swallow back a lump, as it reminded me of the bracelet Hannah had stomped to pieces. "This," my mother placed it in my hand, "is a calling charm."

"A what?"

She laughed. "A calling charm," she repeated. "Since you don't exactly have cell phones in Harlington Academy, I thought it'd be nice if you had something you could use to call me."

I cocked my head to the side, looking down at it curiously. "How does it work?"

She lifted up her hand, and I realized her ring had a heart-shaped diamond similar to mine. She bent her head down close to the ring, and stated clearly, "Call Samantha."

My bracelet started ringing. Literally. It was vibrating too, like it was a tiny cell phone packed into a charm bracelet. "Cool. How do I…answer?"

My mother pressed the beads on either sides of the charm. It beeped, and a hologram popped up in midair. My mom herself was smiling back at me, waving. "See how it works?" both my mom and her hologram asked, the hologram echoing my mom's voice.

"Oh, that's great!" I exclaimed. I watched as my own hologram echoed the same thing back to my mom. "It's even better than a cell phone."

The hologram grinned. "I'm glad you like it." My mom bent her head down again close to the ring and said, "Message over."

The hologram flashed once, and disappeared altogether. After a hug from my mom, she whispered, "Keep in touch, ok?"

"I will," I answered through her thick brown hair.

At that same moment, my father exclaimed. "The bus is coming!"

My head turned from side to side, searching the street. "I don't see anything."

My dad shook his head. "No, look up!"

When I looked up, all I saw was a bright rainbow shimmering in the sky. "Oh, rainbow!"

"See?" my father said. "The bus is coming."

I frowned. "What do you mean?" Immediately, I got my answer

On top of the rainbow, literally, gliding along the rainbow, was a bright yellow bus, two wings attached to either side. "What the?!"

My father grabbed me and my mother's hands, pulling us back. "Watch out, the leprechauns aren't the greatest at landing!"

_Leprechauns_? I shielded my eyes as the rainbow (and I wasn't imagining this) landed right in front of us onto the road, and the bus glided over the rainbow like a track until it skidded to a stop right on top of the now-crushed stop sign. Yeah. Not so great at landing. The bus doors opened up, where two tiny three feet tall men jumped out. They were wearing identical green suits, each with a small nametag saying, "Hi, I'm Freddy," and "Hi, I'm Bob." I suppressed a giggle as I looked down at the two little men. "You headed towards Harlington Academy?" one of them, Freddy, asked.

"Yes," my dad answered for me.

"Well you better hop on," Bob said. "We're two minutes behind and the boss hates it if we're late."

"The boss?" I questioned

"Our boss Roy," Freddy answered. "The head of the Rainbow Riders." He rolled his eyes like he'd explained this many times before. "He named the colors."

"Oh." It didn't make much sense, but apparently, they were in a hurry, so my mom and dad quickly grabbed my stuff and loaded it under the bus.

"Well, honey, you have to go," my mom said, hugging me again and planting a kiss on my cheek. "Don't forget to call!"

My dad hugged me too, before whispering in my ear, "Don't forgot about our little secret." He backed away, placing an arm around my mother's shoulders. My mom had just begun to cry. "B-B-bye, sweetie!"

I had just waved goodbye, blinking back tears, when the two leprechauns pushed me up the bus steps, arguing about who was driving the wheel and who was working the pedals. Quite frankly, I didn't care, even as I took a seat and watched the ground slip from under the bus, all seven colors of the rainbow skimming under the bus's wheels. I was just waiting to wake up.

"Next stop, Harlington Academy!"


	6. A New Beginning

**Author's Note**: Come on people, review! Almost no one is, and do you know what that does to my pride? I hate pleading, but PLEASE review! I'm starting to wonder if anyone likes my stories at all.

On that note, I hope you enjoy this chapter. So far, it's the longest, so I wish you good luck. NOW READ AND REVIEW, or else I'll get my flying monkeys!

* * *

Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 6: A New Beginning

I watched my parents' faces (my mom was sobbing now into my dad's shirt) get smaller and smaller as the bus flew farther and farther away, until they became two small specks in the distance. Pressing my face against the window, I sighed, remembering I wouldn't see them until months from now. It was going to be a long year.

The bus had only been up in the sky for a few minutes, and I was already getting homesick…and airsick. I was never good on planes, so I didn't think I'd do much better on a flying rainbow bus. Call me crazy. I breathed in through my nose and out my mouth slowly, the sight of the land far below making me nauseous. "Ugh…"

"I don't think looking out the window is the best idea if you're going to get sick," said a girl's loud, high-pitched voice. I nearly jumped out of my seat. "Just if you ask me."

I turned from the window, clearing my head, to face the girl seated next to me. "Oh…hi."

"Hey yourself," she responded. The girl held out her hand. "I'm Leah. Leah Lewis."

Hesitantly, I shook it. "Samantha Brooks. Most people just call me Sam."

"Nice to meet you, Sam." She smiled warmly. She wasn't exactly pretty, but she wasn't hideous either. Just average. Her flaming red hair was in braids, tied tightly as though it'd poof up into a giant frizzy ball if it was let loose. A thick, visible layer of freckles dotted her round face, and her nose was slightly larger than average. Big, bright emerald green eyes stood out the most on her light, fair skin. She was even smaller than me, which was surprising, considering I was pretty short, and her hands were wrapped around a chestnut-colored wand, with a green jewel embedded in the wood. Compared to mine, it looked fairly new, with interesting vine-like decorations wrapping around it. She noticed me glancing at it. "Oh, you like it?" she held it up for me to see. "It's my wand," she stated proudly. "And see my amulet…it's an emerald…I specifically requested it be placed _in_ the wand."

"It's nice," I nodded.

"Thanks!" Leah stuck her wand into her pocket, half of it sticking out at a weird angle. "So…you're a sorceress too?"

"Um yeah…" I tried to answer nonchalantly. "Unless there are not only sorceresses going to Harlington Academy."

"Nope, not that I've read," she answered brightly. "And…just so you know," she added, embarrassed, "if I seem like I'm a little clueless, it's because I learned I was a sorceress just a couple of months ago, when I received the letter."

Hah! Compared to me, she'd look like an expert. "Yeah, I know what you mean. My parents only told me a few weeks ago. But they never told me about any letter…"

She shrugged. "The headmaster sent me the letter of acceptance back in June, and it was little…surprising. Both my parents are humans, but my grandmother on my father's side is a sorceress. So I guess you could say it skipped a generation."

"Oh." I wouldn't know if it skipped a generation for me, of course. I didn't know either of my real parents. I was just lucky that my foster parents were a sorcerer and sorceress. "I actually wouldn't have found out about the whole magic world if it weren't for the vampire incident."

Leah's eyes widened. "What vampire? You know a vampire?"

"Well, my parents do know one…" I trailed off. "But he's not who I'm talking about. This vampire tried to…well, he tried to kill me."

She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

Before I knew it, I'd told her everything that happened that night about how my birthday was ruined and how the stranger had failed in murdering me thanks to my father coming to the rescue. "—and I had no idea what was happening until my mom had to explain the whole 'I'm a sorceress' thing," I finished.

"Wow," she stared, open mouthed. "You know that vampires don't usually attack our kind unless they have a reason, right? If he was caught doing that, he'd be burned alive by the MAPLE."

My eyebrows came together. "Maple?" As in maple syrup?

"No, M.A.P.L.E. Magical Agency of Protection and Law Enforcement. Kind of like the FBI or CIA, but for sorcerers and stuff."

"Oh, that." In Samantha language, that meant I had no clue what she was talking about.

"I read about it somewhere." This was exactly what I meant by her being an expert compared to me. She grinned sheepishly, "You could say I like to read a lot."

I wondered where I could get those books…"At least you know more than I do."

She shrugged. "I just like to be prepared."

It was quiet for a few minutes, and I looked out the window (not down at the ground, of course) at the bright, shining colors underneath the bus. You know, for riding on top of a rainbow, the ride was pretty smooth. Freddy and Bob, the two leprechaun bus drivers, weren't too horrible at driving, considering the fact the bus was in the air, and they were both almost too short to reach the wheel. I was just wondering how long the trip to Harlington Academy would be, when Leah suddenly said, "So, Sam…"

"Hm?"

"What are your parents like? You know, being magic and all?" she inquired.

I felt a flick in my stomach. "Oh, well…I wouldn't know. I live with my foster parents."

"Oh," she answered softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok." After another moment of silence, Leah changed the subject. "So, what's your amulet, anyways? Is it a ruby?"

I fingered my star sapphire amulet, which had been hidden under my coat. I lifted it up and showed it to her. "No, but I think it was supposed to be. It's actually a star sapphire."

Again, her eyes widened. "Really? Can I see it?"

Confused, I took the amulet off my neck and placed it in her hand, where she faced it towards the light. "Oh, it really is a star sapphire. I see the star in it."

The asterism-shaped light pattern reflected off the surface. "Yeah. I don't know why it's a star sapphire, really. Even the Seer wondered why it wasn't a ruby."

"Hm," Leah said thoughtfully. "You know how rarely these things are used as amulets?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Even people who are born in September don't get this kind of sapphire. They're supposed to be really powerful, or something. I think the last person who owned one was murdered in a fire set to her house years ago."

I held my breath. "Murdered…by who?"

"I don't know. Someone who had the fire element."

Frowning, I asked, "What's an element?"

Leah opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Freddy the bus driver announced, "We're landing in a few minutes! Please remain seated unless you want to be thrown around in the bus like a rag doll!"

Leah held on tightly to the back of the seat in front of her. Remembering how badly the leprechauns landed, I did the same. "That's it!" Leah pointed outside.

Further down below, I could make out the shape of a small group of buildings. That couldn't be Harlington Academy, could it? From up in the air, the buildings looked tiny, but maybe it was just because of how high up we were. But still, I expected some great stone castle towering over a shimmering lake, or perched on top of a green, sloping hill, or even floating in the sky. It didn't look anything like that. Quite frankly, it looked like it could be a regular school for normal kids. Not a sorceress academy. The buildings were all a plain, off-white color, grouped around the largest building which I figured was the main entrance. I couldn't help but wondering incredulously, "That's all?"

I couldn't understand why Leah was smiling to herself. What was so funny? "You'll see."

As we descended, I had to grip on the back of the seat to make sure I wouldn't go flying, and my stomach was trying to jump up out of my throat. Just as I thought I was going to puke, the bus skidded to the ground, screeching against the road's asphalt. It wobbled precariously on its four wheels before stopping completely. "Here we are! With five minutes to spare, too!" Bob exclaimed happily.

The other people in the bus groaned, and a couple even doubled over in their seats. "Well that was a…pleasant ride," I grumbled sarcastically.

"Hey, no complaining," Freddy replied from the front of the bus. "This is one of the few forms of transportation that can get past the school's boundaries."

I frowned. "Boundaries?"

"Did you expect the school _not_ to have any protection?" Leah said from my left.

"Oh, right." Again, I was left feeling dumb and brainless.

Freddy and Bob opened the bus doors, and gestured for us to hop off. "Out, out, now! We may be five minutes early, but we're definitely not going to let you hooligans waste it!" With a final huff, Bob, added, "And don't forget to drop your three gold collings into the pot on your way out! Rainbow riding doesn't come cheap, you know?" Suddenly, a pot filled to the rim with gold appeared outside by the steps. Huh, so there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Leah and I managed to stumble down the bus steps and each drop our money into the pot. Grumbling and groaning, the rest of the passengers got off, gathering around the front of the main entrance, where the letters H, A, and N were missing in the sign Harlington Academy (making it look like rlingto Academy). We all watched as the leprechauns prepared to close the bus doors.

"Wait," I argued, "what about our stuff?"

"No problem," Freddy answered. He snapped his fingers. "There. They'll find the way to your rooms…eventually." He closed the bus doors before I could protest. In the blink of an eye, the pot of gold had vanished, and the flying bus was back up in the sky, the rainbow disappearing from view.

"Well," Leah said, "at least we won't have to worry about getting on THAT bus for a while."

I nodded in agreement. "But now that we're here, what do we do?"

Suddenly a voice behind us said, "You listen to instructions."

All of us wheeled around to face the new stranger standing, arms folded, next to the main entrance doors. "Well," the woman began once she'd gotten our attention, "you're earlier than I expected. We'll just have to wait for the rest of the first year sorceresses to get here." Her voice was surprisingly firm and stern by the looks of her age. No offense to the lady, but she looked pretty old. Definitely not as old as the Seer, but not exactly as young as my mom, either. Wrinkles were beginning to form on her aged skin, and the streaks of gray outnumbered the remaining light blonde left in her hair, which was tied in a tight bun. Small rounded glasses lay perched on the tip of her pointed nose. Piercing gray eyes watched us like the eyes of a hawk, matching her pursed lips. All I could think was: what the heck had we ever done to her to make her act so crabby? Maybe she was just naturally strict.

"Ah," for the first time she turned her stare from us, "here they are."

There were about a dozen, "ooh!"s.

And when I turned around, I could see why. Now, when you see hundreds of different cars, horses (some of which had wings!), buses, and other strange forms of transportation (there was even a flying carpet, for crying out loud!) coming from which and every way, is to blink, rub your eyes, and then open them again to see if you were dreaming. When you find out you weren't, you usually just stare agape at the scene. That's pretty much what I did. And that didn't change much even when I almost got ran over by a red Porsche which without warning rose out of the ground and tried to drive over us.

"Oh, no…not again," the lady behind us muttered. "Didn't anyone warn them not to take a regular—" Before she could finish, there was a loud BAM! and a minivan rebounded off an invisible barrier about fifty yards in front of us. "…car."

And she dashed off, pressing against something in her ear and mumbling, "Someone get help over here, there was a mishap with some of the arrivals."

I frowned and turned towards Leah, who was still staring open mouthed at the car crash. "Why couldn't that car get through?"

Leah sighed. "You can't get through Harlington Academy boundaries by human transport. It's just one of those precautions made so no mortals will be able to get through when the new sorceresses are coming. This is one of the only days they open up the boundaries for anyone at all, really."

"But won't…regular humans see? With all the flying cars and horses and all?"

She shook her head. "Course not. They always make sure to spread a load of Dust around the school so no one will really notice."

"Um…Dust?" I questioned.

"It's this thing sorcerers and sorceresses use so humans won't see anything out of the ordinary…to them, at least," Leah said. "Basically, it makes them see whatever they think makes sense."

I pointed to one of the winged horses. "And how exactly could they have made sense of that?"

She shrugged. "I can't see it their way. Maybe they think they're giant birds or something."

Right…giant birds. I backed out of the way as another flying carpet zoomed by. It was all a little bizarre, if you asked me.

After a long period of time watching the flying cars, horses, carpets, and random vehicles popping out of the ground, the lady from earlier had come back from a couple more disasters with a few crashing cars (and one RV). By the time she finally got back, it was already dark outside. No wonder she'd seemed so cranky when we first arrived, and that was nothing compared to now.

"Now that's over," she brushed off her skirt, "I think we're ready to head in. Follow me!" She gestured for us all to follow as she swerved around and started for the doors to the school entrance.

We all gathered around the school entrance as the lady held up her hand and placed it on the door. After a moment, her hand literally disappeared under the wood, with only her wrist and the rest of her arm showing. She seemed to be twisting her arm, when suddenly _click_, the door had opened. She held the door open for us and said, "Come on, come on, get in."

At first look, I couldn't help but frown. From the outside, it looked simply like an empty hallway, with nothing special or magical about it. _This_ was the academy we were going to live in for the next year? You have got to be kidding me.

But when Leah and I finally walked through the doorway, it was…strange, really. It was a bit like passing through water. That feeling when you jump in the pool, when the surface connects with the water, and when it suddenly changes from air to water, you feel like you're entering a totally different environment. Ok, so we weren't floating. It was still so much different from the outside. Then suddenly, the inside view of the building changed.

Obviously, it did for Leah, too. "Whoa."

Whoa was right. In the space of one millisecond, the interior had changed from a small, empty hallway, to a gigantic, stone and marble castle entrance. The walls were made of solid hard stone, and the floors were pure white marble. The walls were decorated with different pictures and tapestries and a couple of banners saying "Welcome to Harlington Academy!" or "Welcome to another year!" The windows were tall and wide, opening up to let large amounts of sunlight pour into the entrance (well there would be sunlight, if it wasn't nearly evening). The floors were so clean that I could see my own reflection. If you looked up, you couldn't even see the ceiling, it was so high up. I was surprised I had ever seen it all any other way, much less a dreary hallway.

"Not to say I told you so, but," Leah said, "nothing here is really as it seems, especially Harlington Academy."

I nodded in agreement. "So I guess it's the school's way of…hiding in plain sight?"

"Exactly."

The Lady (name still unknown) turned around and faced the hundred or so students staring in awe at the transformed entrance hall. "I would wish you a good welcome, but the headmaster will kindly do that once you are seated in the grand hall and have finished dinner. For now, all you need to know is my name. I am Professor Payne…" I hoped that name was just coincidence. "…and I will be teaching the Sorcery Economics class and the Elements class."

I raised an eyebrow. "Elements?"

"Shh," Leah shushed.

"…Now, I think it is time you follow me to the grand hall. The rest of the school is waiting." In one smooth movement, Professor Payne was turned around again and heading towards a staircase at the end of the hall, which broke off into two different directions.

We all followed her up the right staircase, which seemed to widen on its own (I was starting to get used to surprises) to accommodate all the girls piling up behind Professor Payne. It wasn't long before we'd reached a huge pair of double doors. All Professor Payne had to do to open it was press lightly on one of the doors, and both of them swung open for us.

All of the girls' eyes seemed to widen in wonder again. "Oh. My. Gosh."

The grand hall was, if possible, even larger than the entrance hall. It was huge, bright, enchanting, and incredibly amazing. There were several rows of long, wooden tables, each filled with golden tableware and chattering girls of every size, shape, and race. I wondered if this school was the only sorceress school in the country. At the head of the grand hall, there was another table set horizontally with about a dozen or so chairs facing towards us, already filled by teachers and staff members. Sitting in the largest of the chairs in the middle, I guessed, was the headmaster.

On the stone walls on the left and right of us, there were two rows of flags, each one with the same design on it: a wand with a necklace wrapped around it, amulet hanging on the end of the chain. A shining luminescent chandelier floated in midair above the head of the students (though they didn't really seem to care). What fascinated me most was that every window on the walls showed a different background, whether it was the glittering lights of the night city or the lush, green valleys and hills of the wilderness. On the wall behind the head table, there was one large window with a scene of a lake gleaming under the moonlight with a forest and grassy fields surrounding it.

I couldn't even close my mouth (which was now actually dripping with drool…yuck!) as my eyes expanded to the size of small tennis balls. "WOW."

"Uh-huh," Leah mumbled, her eyes bugging out like mine. "Hey…is that in _Paris_?" She pointed to one of the windows showing, to my amazement, the Eiffel Tower, towering and lit like a gigantic candle against the evening sky.

I just continued staring.

My dumbstruck moment was interrupted when Professor Payne cleared her throat and called out loudly, "Please sit down at the table at the very right, ladies."

It took all of us a moment to respond. After a long few seconds of the professor tapping her foot and glaring at us expectantly, all the first year students shuffled to the empty table at the right of the grand hall and sat down.

By the time we were all quietly seated, Professor Payne had already gone up to the head table and found her seat on the very left of the headmaster. For another minute, nothing was said except for the few whispers exchanged between the occasional fidgety girls in the table of first years.

Finally, the headmaster stood up. He didn't seem as old as I had been expecting. (But at this point, I'd decided to keep an open mind.) The headmaster was probably around my mom's age, around his mid 40's. He had shaggy, brown hair and looked like he was trying to grow a beard. His suit also looked like it'd been worn one time too many. In my opinion, he didn't really look like the type of guy you'd ever think was the headmaster of a sorceress school. Then again, that was just my opinion. Like Leah said, nothing here is really as it seems.

With a broad grin that stretched from ear to ear, the headmaster opened his mouth to speak. "Welcome, students, to another year here at the wonderful Harlington Academy for sorceresses, founded by Victoria Harlington herself. For those of you who don't know me, I am Headmaster Johnson, and—" But he didn't finish.

The double doors on the other end of the hall burst open with a WHAM! Immediately, all the student sorceresses swiveled around in their seats to find the source of the interruption. I stared as the figure of two vampires—they were vampires, no doubt—stormed into the room. They could've been twins, and they probably were, for both the girl and boy had the same platinum blonde hair that was almost as white as their skin, making them stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd. Both looked about William's (you remember the last vampire I met) age, but their eyes said otherwise. They could've been centuries old, for all I knew. The boy's face wasn't at all friendly, with his emotionless eyes and stern frown, and he stomped down the aisle like he meant serious business. The girl, on the other hand, walked—more like danced, with the gracefulness of her steps—by his side with a look of calm and composure on her face. They stopped right in front of Headmaster Johnson.

"Professor Johnson, sir," the boy said, acknowledging him politely. He sounded gruff and impatient, despite his attempt at courtesy.

"Alexander," the headmaster greeted, sounding slightly surprised, "what brings you here to Harlington Academy?"

The girl replied in a light, sing-song voice deeply contrasting to Alexander's, "Excuse my brother, sir. He's had a long day." She smirked as Alexander scowled, and continued, "He and I are here on a…business trip, if you may. Just some minor matters to take care of for the M.A.P.L.E."

"What minor matters require you to travel so far, Alexandra?" Headmaster Johnson inquired. "I thought you only worked in the department for Elementors." Elementors?

Alexander looked like he was about to explain, but after a quick look around at the hundreds of students watching, he leaned in closer and starting whispering something to the headmaster that I couldn't hear.

For a while, it just continued with the whispering back and forth between the headmaster and Alexander and Alexandra. It looked like they were arguing about something, and Alexandra was trying to lighten up the mood. After a few sighs, Headmaster Johnson finally nodded his head and gestured for them to continue.

Alexander and Alexandra turned around and faced the students, their backs now to the headmaster and teachers. Alexander turned to his sister, and I could hear him ask, "Which one?" Which one what?

Alexandra closed her eyes, breathing in and out calmly. It was only a second before her eyelids fluttered open again and she tilted her head slightly to her left, smiling. Her finger pointed at the table of first years. "That one. The girl with the brown hair, next to the girl with the red hair."

My eyes widened. I had brown hair, and I was sitting next to Leah, who was a redhead. I scanned the table quickly. No other brown-haired girl sitting next to a red-haired girl at this table—check. Finger pointed at me—check. But this couldn't be right. She couldn't be talking about _me_.

"Samantha Brooks," Alexandra called. I winced. Yup, that's me.

Leah jabbed my shoulder nervously. "Sam…I think that's you."

No duh. I stood up on command, despite the fact that my knees were buckling. "Y-yes?" Everyone's eyes focused on me, not making me feel much better.

"Are you aware that you are an unregistered Elementor?" Alexander questioned, his cold black eyes fixed on my face.

"A-a what?" I stammered.

"An Elementor!" he half-shouted.

Alexandra placed one reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Control your temper, brother. She might not even know."

Her brother took a deep, long breath before returning his attention to me. "Now, please answer my question: Are you or are you not an unregistered Elementor?"

I shook my head. "I-I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about!" I didn't even know what an Elementor was, ok?!

He rolled up his sleeves. "Fine then, we'll just have to do this the hard way."

"Alexander, no!" his sister warned.

But he didn't listen. He held out his hand, palm out, and I yelled out in surprise. Something in my gut was being tightened and pricked at, kind of like that time I made the pool in my backyard splash everywhere, but ten times worse. This time it hurt…a lot. I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach and gritting my teeth in agony. It was almost like someone had tried squeezing my guts out and poking them with a knife. I closed my eyes, and my hands dropped to the ground. I whimpered with pain.

And then, suddenly, I became furious. Why was he doing this? What had I ever done? Make him stop! Before I knew it, something had started rumbling in my chest. At first I thought he was trying to torture my heart, too, but then I realized I was growling. And it wasn't human. I opened my eyes, and my jaw dropped. Where my hands had been, there were now white furry paws—yeah, as in, the paws of a dog. If that wasn't enough, I could feel something growing from my BUTT! I turned my head to find that my clothes had suddenly grown ten times larger and something (it looked like a tail!) had ripped through my skirt. What was happening? And why was I covered in white _fur_?!

All around me, people were pointing at me and gasping, "She turned into a white wolf!" and, "How did she do that?" or, "Oh my gosh, look!"

But above it all, I heard one word the most: "Shapeshifter."

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Cliffhanger! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks to all those who ever bother to read it. Now review! Just click the little button right there. See it? If you don't feel up to reviewing, at least put my story on story alert or something. I need to know people are reading it. Now go! Scram! Chapter 7 might be out in a couple of weeks!


	7. The New Freak

**A/N**: I am SO sorry this chapter took so long to come out! I had a huge writer's block, and then summer school, and...well, other stuff. I also wanted to wait until I actually turned 13 (coughs) ahem. Ok...so my birthday is still 3 days away. I figured I'd made people wait long enough. So here it is: chapter 7! Go ahead, read!

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Harlington Academy: Beginnings and Endings

Chapter 7: The New Freak

Frozen with shock and horror, I searched the crowd for Alexander and Alexandra. I had just barely caught a glimpse of Alexander, smiling for the first time, before he and his sister vanished without another word. It took me a moment to realize that the pain had stopped, and my heartbeat had started to steady again. I chanced a glance down, to see that the furry creature I had become was slowly transforming back into human shape.

The girls around me still couldn't help whispering and gawking, and even the teachers and headmaster were raising eyebrows. I felt totally embarrassed and humiliated. I was officially the new freak…and I only JUST got here. At least I had some insight on the Seer's saying my future was complicated.

What scared me the most was that Alexander and his sister seemed to know more about me than I did myself. How could there have been yet another part of me that huge that I didn't even know about? How did I ever miss the part that I could "shapeshift" into a white wolf, complete with the fur, paws, tail, fleas, and everything? It's not something you hear every day, at least, not in my world.

And I still didn't know what an Element was. Or why I had one, or how many people in the world were Elementors, or why they were all angry with me for not _registering_? I just found out I was a sorceress, and they expected me to know all the rules! My parents hardly told me anything about it! How in the world was I supposed to figure it all out on my own? I didn't know anything. I was completely clueless. And the people around me were staring at me like it was a crime.

All of it was getting to be too much for me to handle. I was exhausted and drained by the energy I had used up for the transformation, and it was all making me a little…woozy. Hey, was the room spinning? Were those blurring lights natural? And why did the floor look like it was getting…closer...

.. .. ..

Ah…bright lights…voices…make it stop. I wanted to sleep in peace! Wait, sleep? Was I asleep? My eyelids were too tired to open.

"You think she'll be ok?" a girl's high-pitched voice asked worriedly. It sounded an awful lot like Leah.

"Yes, she's just a little tired from shapeshifting," another unfamiliar voice answered. "Most young Elementors faint if they haven't used their Elements in a while."

I tilted my head the fraction of an inch, listening to Leah and the other woman. My eyelids were just beginning to open.

"Look, she's waking up." My vision was getting clearer, and the details of Leah grinning above me slowly came into view. "Hey, Sam! How do you feel?"

I smiled wryly. "Fine. But—" I grimaced as my hand went over my stomach. "Ah…stomachache."

"That tends to happen," the lady said. I squinted my eyes as I made out her slim form, a long mane of golden hair cascading down her shoulders all the way to her waist. Her eyes were a warm amber color, and her features were slightly angled; overall she was pretty. The woman wore a white nurse's uniform. "Elementors have an extra organ next to their stomach and large intestines. It acts as…storage space for their power. It's called the Elementan."

"I just call it the power gut," Leah added in.

I wrinkled my nose as I thought of another organ inside of me. That was, err…comforting. "Oh."

"It's not that big of a deal, it's only a little bigger than the size of an peanut," Leah piped in eagerly. "You're so lucky you're an Elementor, anyways, since only about 1 out of every 5 sorcerers or sorceresses have Elements."

I was starting to wonder how Leah knew so much. "That's…great."

She didn't catch my sarcasm. "I know, right? It's kind of interesting, I think, and…" I couldn't catch the rest of her babbling. I had only known her for a couple of hours, and I'd already gotten used to her constant prattling of words.

I frowned when it suddenly occurred to me that I might have been unconscious longer than I presumed. "Hey, Leah, how long have I been out?"

"Um…for a few hours now," she answered, and my stomach grumbled in reply to missing dinner. "Right Ara?

The woman, apparently named Ara, nodded. "Yes, it's 9:34 right now." Her curtain of hair parted briefly to show a slightly pointed ear, almost exactly like the receptionist from the realm traveling agency. She caught me staring. "What is it?"

"Are you…are you…?" I muttered, unable to finish.

She cocked her head slightly. "If you're wondering, yes, I am an elf."

An elven school nurse. This academy couldn't get any stranger.

Ara turned to Leah, head bowed slightly. "Well, I should be going back to the hospital wing now," she faced me, "and notify me if you have any problems." With a slight smile and a few long strides, she was gone.

After a yawn, I rubbed my eyes, as if I'd just woken up. "So…where are we, anyways?"

Leah grinned radiantly from ear to ear as if she couldn't hold in her excitement. "We're in our dorm."

My eyebrows lifted. "_Our _dorm?"

Her figure bounced up on down on the balls of her heels. "Yup. We're roommates! Isn't that great? I'm glad I met you!"

I smiled genuinely. "Me too." And, to be honest, I was. I may have left my best friends behind, but at least I could make new friends. It was nice I'd met Leah. She seemed nice. Her eager energy reminded me a little bit of Hannah.

Curiously, I sat up and looked around at our dorm. Thankfully, it wasn't tiny, and it had just enough space to fit both mine and Leah's stuff, which were all here. AND we had our own bathroom, which I considered a plus. I also noted how my side of the room was blue themed (coincidentally, it's my favorite color) from the bed sheets, to the chair, even the wall, and Leah's was green, including her laptop (I wondered why she would need a laptop in a school of magic). Everything on my side was placed exactly where I would've put them, as though I'd already moved in. I looked down to see that I was already in my pajamas, like Leah.

Yawning, Leah plopped onto her bed on the other side of the bed. "Well, I know you're probably not tired, having just woken up and all, but I've stayed up the whole time waiting." _That was nice of her to worry._ She crawled under the covers and continued, "And we start school tomorrow. So good night, Sam."

"Night, Leah," I murmured back as the lights went out.

I had just laid back down on the bed, when it hit me: school was starting tomorrow. Actual school, for sorceresses. And the rest of the school still thought I was some sort of she-wolf freak. The only one who appeared to be ok with it was Leah, who I grateful for; I could tell we were going to be good friends. But then, I remembered Jared and Hannah were starting high school tomorrow. Without me.

I pushed away that thought as I closed my eyes, trying to forget all the past day's events. It was only minutes before I fell asleep.

.. .. ..

"Sam," Leah prodded, trying to coax me awake, "Sam? Wake up. You have to get ready for class."

I groaned in my sleep and rolled over onto my side, pressing my pillow against my ears. "Five more minutes," I begged.

"Come on," she persisted, shaking me, "It's already six o'clock."

I opened an eyelid. "Six?" I whined, "but classes don't start until…8:00, right? And it's not like we have to choose anything to wear besides our uniforms…"

"But Professor Payne requested to see you at 6:30 this morning."

I sat bolt upright. "What? Why'd she ask to see _me_?"

Leah shrugged her shoulders. "She's the Elements class teacher, right? Maybe that's when the class starts."

"At 6:30," I repeated, "in the morning."

"Yes."

I glanced at the clock to make sure she wasn't lying. Yup. 6:01. "I haven't even taken a shower or anything." I pressed my hand against my forehead, groaning again.

"You should probably get going, then," Leah suggested.

So I hopped off the bed and dashed to the bathroom, hoping I wouldn't be late.

Of course, with my luck, I ended up being late. It was already 6:34 by the time I threw myself out the door, and I hardly even knew where I was supposed to go.

"Here goes…" A couple of minutes later, I had managed to find the Elements class, with some help from a couple of seniors wandering the hall. Hesitantly, I swung open the door.

A group of about 20 or so girls was sitting in desks next to a small stage. As I stepped into the room, all their heads swerved to look me over. A few smirked.

"You're late," the familiar stern voice of Professor Payne called. She was standing at the other end of the room next to a chalkboard.

My fingers played with the edge of my blouse. "I-I'm sorry, Professor, no one told me—"

"You don't have to explain," she replied stiffly, "just sit down."

I flopped down into the seat nearest me next to a timid-looking girl with short brown hair.

"Now that all the students are here," Professor Payne continued, "we can start class. As most of you know, my name is Professor Payne, and this year I will be teaching you about the Elements." She lifted her wand up and the chalk began to write her name on the board on its own. "For those of you who have been in this class before, you will already know about it. And those of you who have just started," her penetrating gaze rested on me and a few other girls, "the Elements class usually takes place in the afternoon. Today's class is an...introduction to the Elements."

A couple of girls yawned and leaned back in their seats. The rest of us tried to stay as awake and alert as possible. One, apparently a sophomore, raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Young?"

The girl shrank back into her seat under Professor Payne's glare. "Um…when are we going to start dueling?" What dueling? If it involved falling on my butt and humiliating myself, then NO THANK YOU.

"We will start in a couple of days or so." About half the class groaned. "Until then, I am going to use the time to teach you the basic knowledge on Elements and get to know all of you better…" I stifled a giggle as I found the girl sitting next to me already sleeping. Professor Payne was apparently too caught up in her lesson to notice…

"Ms. Johnson!" the professor tapped her wand against her thigh impatiently. The girl woke up with a start, eyes widening as Professor Payne advanced on her. "Would you like to start the class off? Hm?"

The girl's mouth opened and closed several times (it reminded me of a goldfish out of water), before stuttering out, "I-I-I…ma'am, I…"

Ignoring her, Professor Payne cleared her throat and said, "Start with your name, your age, and your Element."

The poor girl just blinked in reply. "Um…"

"Stand up," she ordered.

She bolted up out of her seat quickly. "Yes, ma'am!" the girl squeaked. "Um…I'm Jenny Johnson…" Hm…her last name sounded exactly like the headmaster's, "and I just started school here. My Element is, uh, shapeshifting." I tilted my head curiously. Shapeshifting? Like me?

"What kind of shapeshifting?" Professor Payne inquired.

Jenny glanced down at the floor shyly. "I can shapeshift into any given person's appearance."

"And would you so kindly demonstrate for us?"

Jenny's mouth gaped open in surprise. "B-but, I…who?"

Professor Payne caught me staring out of the corner of her eye. "How about Ms. Samantha Brooks here?"

"Huh?" I stated oh-so-intelligently.

"Of course, professor," Jenny's head nodded slightly. Before I could even register what was happening, she began eyeing me warily. _What the…_

Her form started to blur, her silhouette shimmering like a disturbed puddle of water. I could barely make out her hair, which was rapidly growing longer and darkening in color to match mine, her eyes changing from a subtle brown to sapphire blue, and her body lengthening. In a blink of an eye, I was looking at my own reflection. She may not have shared the same horrified expression as me, but she sure looked the part in every other way. "Oh my chicken!" Wait? Did I just say oh my chicken? One of these days I was going to kill Hannah and her stupid random phrases.

My clone looked confused at my sudden crazy spontaneous phrase. I might as well have been running around in a chicken suit screaming, "EL POLLO LOCO!" with that look on her face. "Um…what I meant was nice…shapeshifting!" _Nice save, idiot._

All I heard from Jenny was a muttered, "Thanks." Just a blink later, she'd changed back into herself again. Wow, that was beyond weird watching an exact copy of me stand there and act of its own accord. How twins could deal with that every day? Seriously, don't people get confused? Important questions! Oh, sorry, I got a little off track. Anyways…

"Ms. Brooks, I believe it's your turn to introduce yourself," Professor Payne addressed me.

I nodded. "Right…er, I'm Samantha Brooks," well _duh_, "I'm a freshman here, and my Element is also shapeshifting; except, I shapeshift into a white wolf."

I expected Professor Payne to ask me to demonstrate my shapeshifting or something of the sort, but instead she turned to another student nearby, requesting her to introduce herself as Jenny and I had. I blinked in confusion. Why did Professor Payne skip me? Was it because everyone had already seen the day before and she didn't want to embarrass me further? Or did she just think I wasn't capable enough? Whatever the reason, I had to admit I was a little relieved.

I sat down as one by one, all the girls in the class introduced themselves and their Elements. A few of them had similar Elements, like the twins Kaley and Haley, who both had the Element of sound (and trust me, even though it sounds harmless, it can seriously bust your eardrums). Heck, I didn't know there were so many Elements to begin with!

It took almost an hour for everyone to finish. I checked my watch. Almost 7:30. We'd better get this done soon, or I'd never have time to get back to my dorm. And that wouldn't be good.

"Ok, ladies, it seems that we're out of time," Professor Payne announced loudly. "I will see you all later at 3 o'clock this afternoon." _Another_ class? She had better be joking! We already had a one hour lesson starting at SIX THIRTY in the morning! For someone like me, that's pure torture! So what if I wasn't a morning person? Sue me.

I picked up my bag immediately, preparing to dash out of class as soon as possible. Well, that was until…"Ms. Brooks!"

I groaned mentally. Great... "Yes, Professor Pain?" Oh, did I accidentally spell it like "pain?" My baad. Wait, what if she had the Element of mind-reading or something? That would NOT be good! Someone shoot me before my mind runs loose (if it hasn't already, I mean).

Hopefully I was just imagining that her lips pursed slightly. "I believe I have you in my next class."

"You do?" I frowned. Think, Samantha, think. What do you have for your next class? "Oh, you mean Sorc. Ec.?"

"Yes, I teach that class."

I nodded. "Right." So why did she have to remind me? She wouldn't make me wait with her until the next class began, would she? I didn't even have my books! Shi—I mean, shoot. I wonder if there was a spell to send messages or something by mind…I wish Leah could read minds. Actually, scratch that. That'd be awkward, considering the many jumbled things going around in my head…oh, bad mental picture. I almost slapped myself in the forehead. I still wasn't sure about the Professor Payne's mind-reading theory, and I'd be dead meat if I was right (note to self: learn to control wandering brain!). Anyways, back to Professor Payne…

"Good, I will see you next period, Ms. Brooks." And she left. Talk about confusing. What was that all about? Ah, I could never understand teachers. Oh well.

.. .. ..

"Um, Sam…" Leah shook my shoulder. "Sam? YOOHOO, WAKE UP."

"Leave me alone," I groaned. Since my head was pressed against the surface of my desk, it came out more like, "Werve we arwone."

This only made her shake me harder. "Sam! We're in History right now! If you start snoring again, Professor Dorne will kill you!"

Moodily, I lifted up my head to see that Professor Dorne was still droning on about the "fascinating" history of the magical community starting with the first sorcerer to walk the earth (basically, he was just a guy who accidentally conjured up a pit of fire and decided to show it to the cavemen of the time, thus explaining the discovery of fire). Barely ten minutes of the class had passed before I'd slunk over in my desk and fell asleep, quiet as a lamb. Apparently, a few minutes later, I wasn't so quiet. Leah had to wake me up several times during the period to make sure the professor hadn't caught me snoring. I didn't really care, anyways. Professor Dorne was so clueless to what went on in his class, he didn't even see that a boy and girl in the back of the class were spending the whole time during the lecture swapping spit (eww…get a room, people, haven't you ever heard of PDA??). Technically, it was a good thing I'd fallen asleep, or else my virgin eyes would be burning by now. I know Leah was already disgusted, seeing the screwed up "ugh, yuck!" face she was putting on.

"And that was how our school started," Professor Dorne finished in his usual monotonous tone. How in the world did we go from the (fake) cavemen discovery of fire to the founding of our school? I must've missed a lot. Another note to self (I tend to make a lot of notes): next history lesson, get Leah to record the whole lecture while snoozing. Better yet, get Leah to take quick notes to summarize it (the lecture, not the snoozing). It'd definitely save me time having to listen to the whole thing all over again. I'd probably fall asleep again anyways.

I yawned, chancing a quick glance over at the nearest clock. Class would be over soon. I'd already survived Sorc. Ec. (with an essay due by the end of the week describing ourselves and our experience with sorcery…how was I supposed to write an entire essay with my only experience having been traveling to the Witch's Realm??) and Charms & Jinxes (nothing much happened, just a long first day speech), and I could live another period… I just had to hope my next class wouldn't be as boring as history. So far, today was uneventful. Maybe, if I was lucky, so would the rest of the year (but I doubted it). Considering yesterday's incident, I already had more attention than I wanted. Whenever I passed people in the hallway, they would gawk at me, and when I finally noticed them and gave them the "turn around and maybe I won't punch you" glare, they'd giggle and speed down the hall. Idiots.

"Sam, don't start spacing out on me."

I blinked. "What? Oh, is it time to go already?" I looked down at her bag, which she'd already swung over her shoulder. I did the same.

"What class do you have next?"

"Um…Self-Defense, I think?" And I had a sickening feeling it had more to do with magic self-defense than martial arts.

Either Leah has ESP or Jared was right about me being an open book. "Ooh, good luck with that, Sam. Maybe Professor Gray," He's the Self-Defense teacher (and apparently he's the youngest guy on the whole staff and a couple of girls have crushes on him…but you never heard that from me!), "—will start class off with something simple. I'm sure you'll be fine." She patted my shoulder consolingly.

"Sure," I lied. Lately, nothing has ever gone as planned.

.. .. ..

SLAM! "#!" What colorful language. But being the poor girl, I would cuss too until Professor Gray's eardrums were busted. Actually, that sounded like a good idea…maybe I could get out of humiliating myself in front of everyone…hmm...where's a light bulb when you need one?

I barely paid attention as the next victim (a fairly pudgy-looking girl, who, I'm sorry to say, could barely move an inch without drowning us all in her sweat…dude, haven't you EVER heard of deodorant?? Or did you soak through that too?!) stumbled to the front of the classroom and squealed as Professor Gray sent a charm at her. The charm DID hit her, but nothing really happened except her...um, excess baby fat…kind of did this disgusting jiggly thing where it resembled peach-colored jello (except never in a million years would I eat it…ewww!). I probably started turning green…it would explain why the girl next to me started backing a couple of feet away.

"Brooks!" Professor Gray called. "You're next!"

One thought: AHH I'm going to die! (at least from humiliation). Then again, every single girl in the room had ended up on their bottom (or in the case of one unfortunate girl, her face) one way or another. Only one or two had managed to dodge out of the way before being sent flying against the wall. Professor Gray had decided to spend the first day "evaluating our knowledge" of magical self-defense, and he didn't seem to care whether it hurt us or not. Hasn't he considered that some of us (meaning me) know zilch about spells, charms, jinxes, and the likes? The only choices I had right now were to A) Try to dodge out of the way and hope he misses me. B) Try out a spell a girl in the line had been muttering about using. C) Try to hold my ground. Or D) Get thrown across the room and break every bone in my body. Preferably A or B. (C would probably lead to D, and I wasn't in the mood to visit the elf/nurse Ara again).

"Ready, Professor," I squeaked nervously, raising my wand.

Professor Gray narrowed his eyes, before shouting, "Inflixi!"

"Eep!" I yelped, jumping out of the way.

"Inflixi!" he repeated just as the last spell whizzed past my head.

On sudden impulse, I clutched my wand in front of me and yelled, "CONTEGO!"

I braced myself for the impact…hey wait, I was alive! And not on my butt! The spell worked! (does the cha-cha)

"Ictus!" Uh oh. NOT GOOD!

"CONSULO!" Whoa, where'd that come from?

Suddenly, a weird bluish force erupted from my wand, covering the whole of my body. Just as the spell came in six inches of my face, it rebounded off of the wall and struck Professor Gray, sending _him_ flying against the opposite wall. My eyes widened incredulously. "Uh…Professor?"

He answered with a barely audible grunt. Oh crap, I just inadvertently injured my Self-Defense teacher. It was supposed to be _me_ landing painfully on my a—I mean my behind.

The rest of the class, on the other hand, were all gaping at me with the same expression as the previous night (the one that clearly told you they thought you were mentally deranged). Wonderful…

Timidly, I peeked at the motionless body that was now my Self-Defense professor. "Professor Gray? Are you ok? Give me some sort of sign."

No movement. My professor was officially unconscious. I nudged him with my toe. "Um…hello?"

He started to stir. "Professor? Are you awake?"

I was answered with a loud groan. "Brooks…"

I swallowed. "Yes, sir?"

He lifted his body up into a sitting position and slowly opened his eyes. His gaze focused on me. "That was…"

Here comes the detention…

"Brilliant."

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

Professor Gray's just frowned and cocked his head at me. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Learn what?"

He nodded at the cracked wall. Um…oops? "That."

I just stared back at him stupidly. "I have no idea." How DID I do that, anyways? I didn't know any of those spells…except that one I overheard, anyways. I had absolutely no clue how I even knew to react. Usually, my feet would be glued to the floor and my stomach would do flips from nervousness. But then, it's like I had acted on instinct. But it couldn't be instinct, or else the other girls would have easily sent Professor Gray to the ER on the first round.

The look in his eyes was unreadable as he kept his lips together in a tight line. Maybe he _was_ going to give me detention. But, instead he said, "Class dismissed."

.. .. ..

I stabbed at my untouched food moodily. "Die, you evil chicken…"

"I'm pretty sure that chicken is already dead," Leah said amusedly. "What's up? Is it…the time of the month?" The time of the month? Oh. What, she thought I was PMSing? Jeez, I'm not that moody!

My eyebrows came together. "I'm not having my period, Leah."

She laughed. "Then what is it?" She looked at me sympathetically. "Self-Defense didn't go so well, huh?"

"You think?" I slammed my fork down (I accidentally smacked it on the end of my spoon, which did a couple of flips and landed in my lemonade with a splash).

Leah's nose wrinkled as she took a napkin to dry the spilled lemonade on her shirt ("Sorry!"). "Ok…so what happened? Did the magical Self-Defense thing go badly?"

My fingers clutched around my fork (I was surprised it didn't break in half). "Actually…it went better than I wanted it to."

"So what's wrong with that?"

I sighed. "People think I'm mental as is, and I don't think my little stunt…which actually knocked Professor Gray unconscious…helped me much."

She sprayed the water she'd been drinking all over my shirt. "You knocked out Professor Gray??"

"Will you shut it?" I hissed. People turned their heads at us suspiciously. "Yes, I did, but it was an accident, I swear!"

"How could that have been an accident?"

I shrugged. "I didn't know that would happen. I didn't even know that spell! How did I even know to use it?"

By the way she was frowning, she probably knew just as little as I did, if not less. "I wouldn't know. But, I think—"

She was cut off when the doors to the grand hall slammed open. Again. It's funny how these kinds of things seemed to be happening a lot lately. A pair of figures, one of them Professor Payne, stepped into the hall purposefully. The second person, on the other hand, made me do a double take.

The girl greatly resembled a life-sized porcelain doll. The way her features came together so beautifully made me immediately think she was a vampire. But there were two problems with that theory: 1) Her eyes weren't black; they were a piercing, silvery gray, and the dark purplish rings that usually rimmed vampire's eyes were nonexistent on her. 2) Her skin was a great deal paler than usual, but was it wasn't chalk white. In fact, she could be passed of as a normal human girl…or sorceress, whatever.

Besides that, the girl had dark, silky raven locks of hair that fell down her back in long, smooth waves. Her slim face was heart-shaped, pretty but with a confident expression. She had the basic look most people thought beautiful: big eyes, full lips, flawless skin, petite figure…what would be described as model material. But she surpassed models by a long shot, even in the bland school uniform.

It took me a long moment to realize that every other girl in the room was gawking as well, some with food halfway to their mouths. One girl even had mashed potatoes spilled on her skirt. I would have laughed, if it weren't for the strangely tense atmosphere. I was wondering if someone had suddenly pressed the mute button.

Everybody was still watching as Professor Payne started to discuss something with Headmaster Johnson, but low enough so no one could overhear. The girl just stood rigidly by Professor Payne's side.

I frowned. She looked like she could be a student, but why was she so late? Was she so conceited as to think she could pull off a late arrival? She looked like the narcissistic kind of person. I wondered if her looks had gone to her head. Probably had. I snickered to myself.

At that exact moment, her head snapped around. Her steely gaze met mine, and I could feel myself shrinking back in my seat. She glared at me with her eyes narrowed dangerously. _That was weird. It's like she'd heard inside my head. But she couldn't do that…could she?_ I decided not to think further on it. Her head turned back around.

"Samantha Brooks and Leah Lewis, please come to the front now!" Headmaster Johnson suddenly called.

"What?" Leah gaped incredulously. She and I shot a questioning glance at each other. I shrugged. After a moment, we both stood up and walked to the front of the grand hall.

The headmaster smiled at the both of us, before nodding to Professor Payne to continue.

"Girls," she began, staring us down, "I would like you to meet Rosemarie Stone."

"Hi," Leah and I greeted stiffly. Why did we need to know this?

"Ms. Stone, this is Samantha Brooks," Professor Payne gestured to me, "And Leah Lewis." She motioned to Leah.

The girl, apparently Rosemarie, spoke in a velvety, musical voice, "It's nice to meet you both." Her voice had a hint of a strange accent I couldn't recognize.

I was still confused why it was so important for Leah and me to meet her. She didn't seem to be anything special (with that thought, Rosemarie sent me a glare of daggers). What made Professor Payne think we needed to be introduced to each other? It's not like we'd be talking all that much.

And finally, my questions were answered. "Girls, Rosemarie will be dorming with you."

Well, this was going to be…interesting.

* * *

You have finally reached the end of the chapter 7! I tried to make it a little longer to make up for the lost time. I promise I'll try to get out chapter 8 ASAP!! Oh and by the way, if any of you read stuff on Fiction Press, I'm planning on putting up a story there that's related to this one. It'll probably be placed in the Romance section, so once it's out, I hope you read it (my username there is the same as here). Also, I'm changing the genre for this story to K, since I don't cuss much and most stuff here is age appropriate.

Well, that's all! Don't forget to review! And just so you know, I don't mind bad reviews! It helps me out in the long run. Thanks for reading!


	8. Author's Note

**A/N –**

Hey guys! This is just a short note explaining why I haven't updated in a while. Long story short, I decided to just continue this story on Fiction Press, because even though my story sounds a LOT like Harry Potter, I think it's original enough to be called my own. I will never try to publish it, or anything, just continue updating on FP for people to read and enjoy. I have the same account name (SugarCraziiness) so it won't be that hard to find. Sorry if you don't have a FP account already. That's all!

--Sugar!! Craziiness!! a.k.a. Leanne


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